Minister of Finance Su Jain-rong (蘇建榮) on his first day in office yesterday said he would pursue a more equitable taxation system and bolster the nation’s financial health without hurting the economy.
Su briefed reporters on his new role as a partial Cabinet reshuffle took effect.
The minister turned a cold shoulder to tax cuts to encourage fund investment or long-term care savings, but voiced support for lowering taxes on warrant and option transactions.
“A stable economy would be meaningless and elusive if it is not based on a fair taxation system and equitable distributions of wealth,” Su told reporters after the handover ceremony.
Su made the statements after being asked to comment on tax cuts proposed by Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) on five investment tools.
Koo has thrown his weight behind proposals to lower taxes on option and warrant transactions, as well as savings for fund investments, long-term care and pension insurance.
The Securities Investment Trust and Consulting Association (投信投顧公會) has pressed for such tax cuts, saying that they would help boost sales of options and warrants, exchange-traded funds and insurance policies.
Su said that he agreed about tax cuts on warrants and options for market making and risk-hedging reasons, but had reservations about granting income tax deductions for fund investments or purchases of long-term care and pension insurance policies.
“If the ministry proposes leniency for fund savings, others would call for tax cuts on stock investments as well,” Su said.
Trade groups have urged authorities to offer tax incentives for the establishment of “Taiwan Individual Savings Accounts” (TISA), mimicking Japanese moves to encourage financial planning.
“TISA” would benefit the financial sector, as well as overall tax revenue, as seen in Japan, its advocates have said.
Su is willing to sit down and talk to the FSC on tax revisions that should be looked at from a broad perspective, he said, adding that his predecessor, Sheu Yu-jer (許虞哲), openly withheld support for TISA.
He said the ministry would not consider increasing tax returns, even though the national treasury has collected more taxes than the target for four consecutive years straight.
“Surplus tax revenue should be used to pay government debt to avoid heaping a tax burden on the next generations,” Su said.
The looming US-China trade war and other sources of uncertainty also discourage a loose fiscal, he said.
As for potential consolidation of state-run financial companies, Su said that he would recommend such reforms only if doing so would create synergy gains.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
RSS