TAXATION
Thresholds to be raised
The monthly sales threshold for businesses to apply for tax registration is likely to be raised to NT$100,000 (US$3,108) for goods and NT$50,000 for services to keep pace with inflation, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The current threshold is NT$80,000 for goods and NT$40,000 for services. Business operators who do not sell enough per month to meet the threshold do not need to pay business tax. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lee Kuen-cheng (李坤城) during a meeting at the legislature made the suggestion to raise the threshold by 25 percent based on the consumer price index. Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) responded that the ministry would change the threshold to follow that suggestion. The policy is to be formally announced by the end of this month ahead of a 30-day public comment period, followed by potential implementation on Jan. 1, Chuang said. Lawmakers had been calling for an adjustment to keep pace with inflation, as the figure had not changed for 17 years.
TRANSPORTATION
YouBike fees to be cut
YouBike rentals in New Taipei City are to be free for the first 30 minutes starting in the first quarter of next year at the earliest, the city government said yesterday. The move follows a decision by the Taipei City Government in February to reinstate the free first half hour, as people travel regularly between New Taipei City and Taipei, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) told a council meeting. The first 30 minutes were free when the service was launched, but that was changed to only be free for people transferring from other public transportation or with a regional transit pass, New Taipei City Transportation Department Director Chung Ming-shih (鍾鳴時) said. Currently, the first 30 minutes costs NT$5, with the remaining NT$5 of the total NT$10 cost covered by the city government, Chung said.
WEATHER
Temperatures to fall
Cooler temperatures with brief showers are forecast across northern and northeastern parts of the nation from Saturday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said on Tuesday. Seasonal winds combined with an arriving weather front are expected to bring temperature highs down by 5°C to 27°C that day, CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said. Intermittent showers are also likely, with a chance of heavy rain in parts of Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as coastal areas of Keelung, Lin said. Although the effects of the weather front would only last for a day, the strengthening seasonal winds would result in cooler weather until Tuesday next week, he said.
CULTURE
Juming museum reopens
Juming Museum (朱銘美術館) in New Taipei City’s Jinshan District (金山) reopened to the public on Tuesday, 11 days after suffering extensive damage from flooding caused by Typhoon Krathon. During the Oct. 4 typhoon, floodwater breached the museum’s storage facilities, knocked down sculptures displayed outside and flooded low-lying areas of the museum’s 110,000m2 campus, museum director Liu Po-Tsun (劉柏村) said. In total, 50 indoor and 86 outdoor artworks were damaged, as was some of the museum’s electrical equipment, Liu said, adding that the works of art would all be professionally restored. The museum’s exhibition “Fang Wu (方物),” which features works by 20 artists from across East Asia, were not affected by the flooding and only suffered minor humidity damage, Liu said.
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm early yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, less than a week after a typhoon barreled across the nation. The agency issued an advisory at 3:30am stating that the 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, of the Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, with a 100km radius. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA
Residents have called on the Taipei City Government to reconsider its plan to demolish a four-decades-old pedestrian overpass near Daan Forest Park. The 42-year-old concrete and steel structure that serves as an elevated walkway over the intersection of Heping and Xinsheng roads is to be closed on Tuesday in preparation for demolition slated for completion by the end of the month. However, in recent days some local residents have been protesting the planned destruction of the intersection overpass that is rendered more poetically as “sky bridge” in Chinese. “This bridge carries the community’s collective memory,” said a man surnamed Chuang
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm earlier today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, in this year's Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am, the CWA said. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) with a 100km radius, it said. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA meteorologist Huang En-hung (黃恩宏) said. However, a more accurate forecast would be made on Wednesday, when Yinxing is
NEW DESTINATIONS: Marketing campaigns to attract foreign travelers have to change from the usual promotions about Alishan and Taroko Gorge, the transport minister said The number of international tourists visiting Taiwan is estimated to top 8 million by the end of this year, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shi-kai (陳世凱) said yesterday, adding that the ministry has not changed its goal of attracting 10 million foreign travelers this year. Chen made the remarks at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee to brief lawmakers about the ministry’s plan to boost foreign visitor arrivals. Last month, Chen told the committee that the nation might attract only 7.5 million tourists from overseas this year and that when the ministry sets next year’s goal, it would not include