The Legislative Yuan passed three bills today, amending the Employment Service Act (就業服務法) and Spatial Planning Act (國土計畫法), and extending the stock day-trading tax cut.
Amendments passed to the Employment Service Act stipulate that foreign caregivers may be hired to care for people older than 80 without the elderly person needing to pass any medical evaluation.
Those aged 70 to 79 with cancer in stage two or above also qualify.
Photo: Taipei Times
Due to supply and demand disorder in the caregiving market, the amendment may influence the caregiving rights of families dealing with moderate to severe illnesses, Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) said previously.
As the three parties could not reach a consensus on the bill at first, the review committee completed an initial review and then sent it to the party caucuses.
The legislature voted on the revised amendments proposed by each party, passing the Chinese National Party’s (KMT) revision thanks to the party’s majority.
Amendments passed to the Spatial Planning Act extend the period to draw zoning maps by six years.
According to Article 45 of the act, the competent authorities must complete their maps within four years after the act goes into effect, or by April 30 next year.
Once the maps are all complete, the Regional Plan Act (區域計畫法) would no longer be valid and the Spatial Planning Act would by fully implemented.
However, all three parties proposed to lengthen the timeline, voting to extend the original four-year timeline by another six years.
Nineteen counties and cities have completed their maps and eight have already completed the review process, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday.
Only Taoyuan, Nantou County and Yunlin County have yet to submit their maps, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, the legislature voted to extend the stock day-trading tax cut by another three years, until Dec. 31, 2027.
The preferential tax rate would remain at 0.15 percent.
This lower rate, which has been in place since April 2017, but was set to expire today, is half the normal transaction tax rate of 0.3 percent.
The tax cut would continue to benefit market activity given that day trading currently accounts for about 40 percent of total market turnover in Taiwan, the Taiwan Securities Association said.
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