The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a slew of draft amendments that would give the government and the courts some flexibility in setting fines instead of fixed rates.
The amendments to Article 54 of the Land Tax Act (土地稅法), Articles 29, 30 and 31 of the Vehicle License Tax Act (使用牌照稅法) and select articles under the Tobacco and Liquor Tax Act (菸酒稅法) would allow agencies more leeway in assigning fines based on the severity of the breach, the Ministry of Finance said.
Amendments to the Land Tax Act target those who purchase land or resell it without registering the change of ownership with the government, the ministry said.
Photo: David Chang, EPA
The amendments would change the fines for contravening the act from a fixed rate of 2 percent of the land’s sale price to fines of 2 percent or lower of the current land value, they added.
For the Vehicle License Tax Act, the amendments would change the fines for those who contravene the terms of temporary licenses, vehicle test drive licenses or who purchased a vehicle and do not obtain a license from the fixed rate of double the tax to a fine of less than double the original tax for the vehicle, the ministry said.
The sale or transfer of a vehicle license would reduce the driver’s payment of the vehicle tax from three times to three times or less, it said.
As for amendments to the Tobacco and Liquor Tax Act, the penalty floor for fines would be removed and the wording would be changed from “double to quadruple the original tax” to “quadruple the original tax or lower,” the ministry said.
Unintentional or minor contraventions could result in lower fines, it added.
The ministry also abolished a stand-in penalty clause introduced after the nation did away with the government monopoly on tobacco and alcohol sales, and announced that overdue tobacco and alcohol tax, as well as Tobacco Health and Welfare Surcharges, would now observe Article 20 of the Tax Collection Act (稅捐稽徵法).
The article states that delinquency charges for overdue tax would equal 1 percent of the taxable amount every three days of delay.
The ministry said it would work with the legislature, adding that it hopes to complete ratification as soon as possible.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
Taiwan next year plans to launch its first nationwide census on elderly people living independently to identify the estimated 700,000 seniors to strengthen community-based healthcare and long-term care services, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) said yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said on the sidelines of a healthcare seminar that the nation’s rapidly aging population and declining birthrate have made the issue of elderly people living alone increasingly pressing. The survey, to be jointly conducted by the MOHW and the Ministry of the Interior, aims to establish baseline data and better allocate care resources, he
RSS