People who registered online for a one-time government cash payment of NT$6,000 (US$197) to be deposited into their bank accounts should begin receiving the funds starting on Thursday next week, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said on Facebook on Saturday.
Online registration for the cash handout began on Wednesday for certain people depending on their ID numbers, and continues today for all eligible people regardless of ID numbers.
People who do not register online can also receive the money from select banking machines from April 10, using an ATM card and entering their national ID or permanent residence card number, along with their national health insurance card number, the ministry said.
Photo: CNA
Eligible people can apply online via the government’s dedicated Web site at https://6000.gov.tw.
The disbursement can also be collected at post office counters from April 17 by presenting the required ID and a national health insurance card from April 17, it said.
The deadline for claiming the handout by any method has been set at Oct. 31, the ministry said.
The only foreign nationals who are eligible for the NT$6,000 handout are permanent residents or those who reside in Taiwan with a Taiwanese spouse.
The majority of foreign nationals in Taiwan are not permanent residents, and their exclusion from the program is consistent with the policies of the COVID-19 economic stimulus voucher programs, the ministry said.
Taiwanese families expecting children from October to December can claim the cash handouts on behalf of their newborns, it said.
Parents can claim the funds in person at a local post office, provided they present the child’s birth certificate before the end of January next year, it added.
The government proposed the cash handout late last year after the governing Democratic Progressive Party lost a significant amount of support in local government elections in November last year.
Presented as a tax rebate, the funds were budgeted from last year’s tax surplus, which was in excess of NT$450 billion over estimates.
Much of the surplus has also been budgeted to offset losses in government agencies and the state-run Taiwan Power Co, while other parts are to finance business programs to spur economic activity.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to