The national treasury last month collected NT$132.7 billion (US$4.75 billion) in tax revenue, an increase of 11.4 percent from a year earlier, bolstered mainly by sharp increases in securities and property transactions, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
Securities transactions generated a record NT$24.4 billion in tax revenue, rising 1.6 times from a year earlier, as daily turnover on the Taiwan Stock Exchange and the Taipei Exchange expanded almost threefold to a new high of NT$526.9 billion, Department of Statistics Deputy Director-General Chen Yu-feng (陳玉豐) told a news conference in Taipei.
Securities transaction tax revenue has increased for 19 consecutive months, the third-longest streak of gains, trailing only 21 months from 1996 to 1997 and 22 months from 1988 to 1990, Chen said.
Photo: CNA
The figure might climb higher this month based on daily trading volumes so far.
Market turnover yesterday surged to a record NT$714.835 billion, even though COVID-19 pandemic selloffs pushed the TAIEX down 652.48 points to 16,583.13.
For the first four months of this year, securities transaction tax revenue more than doubled from the same period last year to NT$80.4 billion, the ministry’s monthly report showed.
Land value increment tax revenue contributed NT$8.4 billion to the state chest, representing an annual increase of 12.1 percent, as the number of taxable cases swelled 23.6 percent to 57,510, it said.
A total of 226,643 deals subject to property gains taxes were recorded from January to last month, an increase of 21.1 percent from a year earlier, the ministry said.
Inheritance and gift tax revenue last month rose 63.6 percent to NT$3.9 billion, while sales tax revenue grew 11.5 percent to NT$16 billion, it said.
By contrast, personal income tax revenue shrank 2.4 percent to NT$28.6 billion, while corporate income tax revenue slid into negative territory due to tax returns, Chen said.
Tax revenue in the first four months of this year increased 15.5 percent year-on-year to NT$599.9 billion, beating the ministry’s forecast by 16.6 percent and covering 24.6 percent of the government budget for this year, the report said.
In Italy’s storied gold-making hubs, jewelers are reworking their designs to trim gold content as they race to blunt the effect of record prices and appeal to shoppers watching their budgets. Gold prices hit a record high on Thursday, surging near US$5,600 an ounce, more than double a year ago as geopolitical concerns and jitters over trade pushed investors toward the safe-haven asset. The rally is putting undue pressure on small artisans as they face mounting demands from customers, including international brands, to produce cheaper items, from signature pieces to wedding rings, according to interviews with four independent jewelers in Italy’s main
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has talked up the benefits of a weaker yen in a campaign speech, adopting a tone at odds with her finance ministry, which has refused to rule out any options to counter excessive foreign exchange volatility. Takaichi later softened her stance, saying she did not have a preference for the yen’s direction. “People say the weak yen is bad right now, but for export industries, it’s a major opportunity,” Takaichi said on Saturday at a rally for Liberal Democratic Party candidate Daishiro Yamagiwa in Kanagawa Prefecture ahead of a snap election on Sunday. “Whether it’s selling food or
CONCERNS: Tech companies investing in AI businesses that purchase their products have raised questions among investors that they are artificially propping up demand Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday said that the company would be participating in OpenAI’s latest funding round, describing it as potentially “the largest investment we’ve ever made.” “We will invest a great deal of money,” Huang told reporters while visiting Taipei. “I believe in OpenAI. The work that they do is incredible. They’re one of the most consequential companies of our time.” Huang did not say exactly how much Nvidia might contribute, but described the investment as “huge.” “Let Sam announce how much he’s going to raise — it’s for him to decide,” Huang said, referring to OpenAI
The global server market is expected to grow 12.8 percent annually this year, with artificial intelligence (AI) servers projected to account for 16.5 percent, driven by continued investment in AI infrastructure by major cloud service providers (CSPs), market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. Global AI server shipments this year are expected to increase 28 percent year-on-year to more than 2.7 million units, driven by sustained demand from CSPs and government sovereign cloud projects, TrendForce analyst Frank Kung (龔明德) told the Taipei Times. Demand for GPU-based AI servers, including Nvidia Corp’s GB and Vera Rubin rack systems, is expected to remain high,