The Cabinet yesterday approved an amendment seeking to double the tobacco health and welfare surcharge in a bid to control tobacco consumption.
The government suggested raising the surcharge imposed on tobacco products to NT$20 per package from the current NT$10 per package, Cabinet Spokeswoman Vanessa Shih (史亞平) told a press conference after the weekly meeting.
The proposed amendment to the Tobacco Hazard Prevention Act (菸害防制法) states that the 48.7 percent surcharge imposed on the retail price of tobacco products sold in Taiwan is lower than the international standards of 66.7 percent to 80 percent set by the World Bank.
Department of Health statistics shows that annual expenditure on tobacco-related diseases has reached approximately NT$45 billion (US$1.37 billion), accounting for about one-tenth of the National Health Insurance System's expenses.
Shih said the government would use the surcharge collected from tobacco sales to subsidize the health insurance premiums of economically disadvantaged families living in remote areas or those suffering from rare diseases.
The government is expected to adopt the new surcharge on Jan. 11 if the legislature approves the amendment.
The Cabinet also approved an amendment to the Statute for Upgrading Industries (促進產業升級條例) designed to encourage investment yesterday.
The amendment proposes granting five-year income tax exemptions to manufacturing or service companies that put in new investments between July 1 this year and the end of next year.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has estimated that this would create NT$500 billion in new investments, which in turn would contribute to an increase of NT$6 billion in tax revenue over five years.
The Cabinet also approved a draft measure to turn Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport into an Asian logistics center that could help transform domestic industries and boost long-term economic development.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) said at a press conference after the Cabinet meeting that the government planned to set up a state-owned enterprise to manage the transformation of the airport into a regional center.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
EVERYONE’S ISSUE: Kim said that during a visit to Taiwan, she asked what would happen if China attacked, and was told that the global economy would shut down Taiwan is critical to the global economy, and its defense is a “here and now” issue, US Representative Young Kim said during a roundtable talk on Taiwan-US relations on Friday. Kim, who serves on the US House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee, held a roundtable talk titled “Global Ties, Local Impact: Why Taiwan Matters for California,” at Santiago Canyon College in Orange County, California. “Despite its small size and long distance from us, Taiwan’s cultural and economic importance is felt across our communities,” Kim said during her opening remarks. Stanford University researcher and lecturer Lanhee Chen (陳仁宜), lawyer Lin Ching-chi
A pro-Russia hacker group has launched a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on the Taiwanese government in retaliation for President William Lai’s (賴清德) comments suggesting that China should have a territorial dispute with Russia, an information security company said today. The hacker group, NoName057, recently launched an HTTPs flood attack called “DDoSia” targeting Taiwanese government and financial units, Radware told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). Local tax bureaus in New Taipei City, Keelung, Hsinchu and Taoyuan were mentioned by the hackers. Only the Hsinchu Local Tax Bureau site appeared to be down earlier in the day, but was back
RSS