Tax revenue last month rose 11.3 percent from a year earlier to NT$239.1 billion (US$7.4 billion), lifted mainly by gains in corporate and personal income taxes, as well as stock exchange transactions, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
Personal income tax revenue swelled 37.5 percent to NT$40.7 billion, as some firms distributed year-end bonuses last month, ministry statistics official Liu Shun-rong (劉訓蓉) said, adding that cash dividends and capital gains from property deals contributed to the increase.
There is a trend for firms and mutual funds to distribute cash dividends every quarter rather than annually, the ministry said.
                    Photo: Wu Chi-lun, Taipei Times
Corporate income tax revenue rose 5.7 percent to NT$9 billion as firms gradually emerged from an economic slowdown induced by inventory adjustments, sharp global inflation and monetary tightening, it said.
The improving macroenvironment lent support to the local bourse, which has seen capital inflows from mutual funds and foreign players seeking to take advantage of the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, Liu said.
Taiwan is home to the world’s largest contract manufacturers of high-performance computing chips, high-capacity servers, storage, memory chips and other electronics.
Tax revenue from securities transactions in March spiked 65.6 percent to NT$29.1 billion, with average daily turnover soaring 88.4 percent from a year earlier to NT$551.7 billion, the ministry said, citing Taiwan Stock Exchange data.
The TAIEX climbed above the 20,000 points this month as dozens of local tech firms participate in supply of global AI infrastructure and services.
A positive wealth effect helped boost tax revenue from land value gains, which rose 13.8 percent to NT$7.8 billion, Liu said.
However, tax revenue from tariffs and sales of goods shrank 3.4 percent and 12.7 percent to NT$142 billion and NT$13 billion respectively, owing partly to a decline in vehicle imports, she said, adding that delayed recognition of vehicle sales contributed to the lackluster figures.
In the first quarter, the ministry collected NT$557.6 billion of tax revenue, a 14.5 percent increase from a year earlier and ahead of the government’s budget schedule by 16.4 percent, she added.
RUN IT BACK: A succesful first project working with hyperscalers to design chips encouraged MediaTek to start a second project, aiming to hit stride in 2028 MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the world’s biggest smartphone chip supplier, yesterday said it is engaging a second hyperscaler to help design artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators used in data centers following a similar project expected to generate revenue streams soon. The first AI accelerator project is to bring in US$1 billion revenue next year and several billion US dollars more in 2027, MediaTek chief executive officer Rick Tsai (蔡力行) told a virtual investor conference yesterday. The second AI accelerator project is expected to contribute to revenue beginning in 2028, Tsai said. MediaTek yesterday raised its revenue forecast for the global AI accelerator used
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has secured three construction permits for its plan to build a state-of-the-art A14 wafer fab in Taichung, and is likely to start construction soon, the Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau said yesterday. Speaking with CNA, Wang Chun-chieh (王俊傑), deputy director general of the science park bureau, said the world’s largest contract chipmaker has received three construction permits — one to build a fab to roll out sophisticated chips, another to build a central utility plant to provide water and electricity for the facility and the other to build three office buildings. With the three permits, TSMC
The DBS Foundation yesterday announced the launch of two flagship programs, “Silver Motion” and “Happier Caregiver, Healthier Seniors,” in partnership with CCILU Ltd, Hondao Senior Citizens’ Welfare Foundation and the Garden of Hope Foundation to help Taiwan face the challenges of a rapidly aging population. The foundation said it would invest S$4.91 million (US$3.8 million) over three years to foster inclusion and resilience in an aging society. “Aging may bring challenges, but it also brings opportunities. With many Asian markets rapidly becoming super-aged, the DBS Foundation is working with a regional ecosystem of like-minded partners across the private, public and people sectors
BREAKTHROUGH TECH: Powertech expects its fan-out PLP system to become mainstream, saying it can offer three-times greater production throughput Chip packaging service provider Powertech Technology Inc (力成科技) plans to more than double its capital expenditures next year to more than NT$40 billion (US$1.31 billion) as demand for its new panel-level packaging (PLP) technology, primarily used in chips for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, has greatly exceeded what it can supply. A significant portion of the budget, about US$1 billion, would be earmarked for fan-out PLP technology, Powertech told investors yesterday. Its heavy investment in fan-out PLP technology over the past 10 years is expected to bear fruit in 2027 after the technology enters volume production, it said, adding that the tech would