Tax revenue from securities transactions last month increased 41.9 percent from a year earlier to NT$30.3 billion (US$975.8 million), rising on an annual basis for the third consecutive month and marking the highest for the month of October as Taiwanese stocks continued to perform strongly, data released by the Ministry of Finance showed yesterday.
Last month, the TAIEX surged 2,412.81 points, or 9.34 percent, marking its largest-ever monthly rise for October as market sentiment was buoyed by a nearly 15 percent gain in contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which accounts for more than 40 percent of the main board’s capitalization. The TAIEX also surpassed the 28,000-point mark for the first time.
Average daily turnover of the local stock market rose to NT$626.7 billion last month, up 45.4 percent from a year earlier, the ministry said in a statement.
Photo: CNA
However, the US government shutdown, US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s hawkish remarks and concerns about an artificial intelligence bubble have dampened the market’s risk appetite. Coupled with mixed corporate earnings results lately, the TAIEX is likely to shift to a consolidation pattern in the near term, casting a shadow over securities transaction tax revenue this month.
The TAIEX yesterday closed down 84.56 points, or 0.30 percent, at 27,784.95, after several large-cap tech stocks, including TSMC, pared early gains on profit-taking.
In the first 10 months of this year, cumulative tax revenue from securities transactions totaled NT$228.6 billion, down 5.5 percent from the same period last year, ministry data showed.
The decline came as the local bourse was affected by US tariff policies during the first half of the year, with average daily turnover dropping 5.1 percent to NT$463.2 billion over the period, the ministry said.
Overall, the nation last month collected NT$417.4 billion in tax revenue, up NT$67.6 billion, or 19.3 percent, from a year earlier, the ministry said.
The ministry attributed the growth mainly to increases in corporate income tax revenue, which rose NT$60 billion year-on-year, and securities transaction tax revenue, which climbed NT$8.9 billion from a year earlier.
Meanwhile, business tax revenue posted the largest decline of NT$3 billion year-on-year, and land value increment tax revenue fell by NT$1.7 billion, it said.
In the first 10 months of the year, cumulative tax revenue decreased by NT$6.7 billion, or 0.2 percent, year-on-year to NT$3.29 trillion, mainly as decreases in revenues from securities transactions, business, land value increment and commodity taxes offset the increases in revenue from personal income and corporate income taxes, the ministry said.
The January-to-October figure was 2.2 percent below the government’s budget target for the 10 months and reached 86.5 percent of its full-year target, it said.
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