The Ministry of Finance yesterday said that it collected NT$19.3 billion (US$640.77 million) in tax revenue last month, representing a 12.9 percent increase from a year earlier, on the back of gains from most tax categories.
Despite the improvement, Department of Statistics Deputy Director-General Chen Yu-feng (陳玉豐) voiced concern that the ministry might not be able to meet the budget target this year, as the impact of COVID-19 would be more evident from this month.
Corporate income tax revenue swelled 54.9 percent year-on-year to NT$5.5 billion last month, while personal income tax revenue rose 1.9 percent to NT$22.1 billion, the ministry’s report showed.
Securities transaction tax revenue soared 63.4 percent to NT$4.8 billion, while average daily market turnover grew 52.19 percent to NT$204.7 billion from NT$134.5 billion a year earlier, the report said.
Paradoxically, panic selling instead of bullish sentiment drove up the turnover volume, Chen said.
Foreign institutional players sold US$17.95 billion worth of local shares as of Friday last week. They trimmed their positions by another net NT$7.5 billion yesterday, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
Major tech firms are due to give their earnings guidances for the second quarter after posting an impressive improvement in revenue in the first quarter.
Camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co (大立光) on Thursday last week said that demand is expected to slow this month and the next as the virus outbreak has hurt orders from the West.
Land value increment tax revenue grew 21.3 percent to NT$8.5 billion, attributable mainly to large-volume deals, with the number of transactions increasing by a modest 2.2 percent annually to 51,196 deals, the ministry said.
For the first three months of the year, the ministry said that it had accumulated NT$400.6 billion in tax revenue, an increase of 10.1 percent from the same period last year and ahead of the government’s budget target by 10.2 percent so far.
However, the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak would intensify from this month and weigh on the state chest, Chen said.
Tobacco and liquor tax revenue for the first quarter shrunk 8.2 percent from a year earlier to NT$15.5 billion and the decline would worsen going forward if the pandemic persists, she said.
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