Taiwan’s tax revenue was robust in the first seven months of this year, fueled by a stock-market boom and strong corporate earnings, even as last month’s collections declined because of an unusually high comparison base created by last year’s extended income-tax filing deadline, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
Tax revenue was NT$289.1 billion (US$8.96 billion) last month, down 67 percent from a year earlier, the ministry’s data showed.
“The sharp decline was largely a statistical effect rather than a sign of weakening collections,” ministry statistician Liu Shun-rong (劉訓蓉) said.
Photo: CNA
For the first seven months of the year, revenue was NT$2.88 trillion, or 72.9 percent of the full-year budget target, putting collections 15.6 percentage points ahead of the government’s budget schedule, Liu said.
The figures highlight the strength of tax receipts despite the sharp monthly swings, she said.
Securities transaction tax was a key driver in tax revenue last month amid investors’ heavy trading in Taiwanese stocks, fueled by strong demand for artificial intelligence-related companies, the data showed.
Average daily trading turnover on Taiwan’s stock market surged 1.8 times the value of a year earlier to NT$1.15 trillion last month, lifting securities transaction tax revenue 1.7 times to NT$65.1 billion.
For the first seven months, securities transaction tax revenue jumped 1.9 times to NT$398.7 billion, reaching 277 percent of the government’s budget target for the period, the ministry said.
Corporate income tax revenue remained strong, rising 24.1 percent from a year earlier to NT$788.9 billion in the first seven months, mainly reflecting higher tax payments by companies, the ministry said.
Individual income tax revenue increased 11.2 percent to NT$689.9 billion in that same period, it said.
From January to last month, business tax collections climbed 20.8 percent to NT$487.2 billion, helped by steady domestic spending and higher taxes on imports of information and communications technology and audiovisual products, as well as electronic components.
However, land value increment tax revenue was a notable exception, falling 8.5 percent to NT$39.2 billion during the first seven months as property transactions declined, Liu said.
The ministry expects tax revenue to remain elevated this year, supported by strong stock-market turnover and resilient exports from Taiwan’s technology and industrial sectors.
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