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.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
PRESSURE EXPECTED: The appreciation of the NT dollar reflected expectations that Washington would press Taiwan to boost its currency against the US dollar, dealers said Taiwan’s export-oriented semiconductor and auto part manufacturers are expecting their margins to be affected by large foreign exchange losses as the New Taiwan dollar continued to appreciate sharply against the US dollar yesterday. Among major semiconductor manufacturers, ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光), the world’s largest integrated circuit (IC) packaging and testing services provider, said that whenever the NT dollar rises NT$1 against the greenback, its gross margin is cut by about 1.5 percent. The NT dollar traded as strong as NT$29.59 per US dollar before trimming gains to close NT$0.919, or 2.96 percent, higher at NT$30.145 yesterday in Taipei trading
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