The basic living expense tax deduction has been raised to NT$192,000 and is to be applicable next tax season, the Executive Yuan said on Thursday.
Citing Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said that about 2.1 million households in Taiwan are expected to benefit from the upward adjustment.
It is the fifth consecutive year that the basic living expense deduction has been increased, Lo said following a Cabinet meeting.
The Taxpayer Rights Protection Act (納稅者權利保護法) stipulates that individuals should not be taxed on the amount they need to cover basic expenses, which is defined as 60 percent of the median disposable per capita income from the preceding year.
A survey released on Aug. 13 by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics showed that the median disposable income last year was NT$320,000.
The basic living expense figure for this year is NT$10,000 higher than it was last year.
Tax regulations stipulate that when the basic living expense exceeds the personal exemption, standard deduction and special deductions combined, the difference can be subtracted from gross income when calculating tax to pay.
At the Cabinet meeting, Su confirmed that the minimum wage is to be increased by 5.21 percent on Jan. 1 next year.
The minimum monthly wage is to rise to NT$25,250 from NT$24,000, while the minimum hourly wage is to rise to NT$168 from NT$160, Su said.
The hike, the sixth in the past six years, was proposed last week by the Ministry of Labor’s Minimum Wage Review Committee.
The hikes will benefit about 2.45 million workers in Taiwan, among whom about 2 million are Taiwanese, Lo said.
The committee last week said that the increase would also apply to migrant workers in the manufacturing, deep-sea fishing, construction and institutional nursing sectors, but not to caregivers or home help employed by a family.
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