Centrally allocated tax revenues in the first quarter of this year rose by NT$8.5 billion (US$268.9 million) from a year earlier to NT$43.5 billion, a statement released by the Ministry of Finance on Thursday said.
Of these tax revenues, income taxes increased NT$300 million year-on-year, business and commodity taxes grew NT$6.9 billion and NT$400 million respectively, and land value increment taxes collected by local governments rose NT$900 million, the ministry said.
Based on the first-quarter data, the ministry revised upward its estimate of centrally allocatted tax revenues for this year to NT$177 billion, from the original forecast of NT$173.7 billion.
Despite growth in centrally allocated tax revenues, the government saw a deficit of NT$164.8 billion last year, the highest in five years, although lower than figures recorded between 2002 and 2004, a separate ministry statement showed this week.
On Wednesday, National Treasury Agency Director-General Hwang Ding-fang (黃定方) called an impromptu press conference in which he claimed that the government’s deficit was under control, saying: “An increase in public debt means higher national competitiveness.”
Although public debt appeared to have climbed, the nation’s financial conditions would remain healthy as long as it could afford to repay the debt and interest, Huang told reporters.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new