The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed amendments to the Industrial Innovation Act (業創新條例) which include tax breaks to encourage investment in technology related to artificial intelligence (AI), energy conservation and reducing carbon emissions.
The changes are headed to President William Lai’s (賴清德) desk.
The amendments initially written by the Cabinet stipulated that purchases of equipment that use AI, save energy or cut emissions would qualify for tax deductibles of up to NT$2 billion (US$61.33 million).
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
According to the amendments, AI, energy conservation and emission-cutting equipment could be counted toward tax deductibles of up to NT$2 billion, effective retroactively from Jan. 1 this year to Dec. 31, 2029.
Companies operating in sensitive industries must obtain prior approval from the relevant government agency before investing in certain foreign countries or deploying key technologies abroad.
The amended act includes penalties for unauthorized exports of sensitive technologies, where no such provisions previously existed.
Under the new rules, investing in the development of key technologies in a foreign country without prior approval is punishable by an initial fine of NT$500,000 to NT$1 million, with repeat contraventions subject to fines ranging from NT$500,000 to NT$10 million, the amendments say.
Unauthorized foreign investments deemed to compromise national security or economic development are also subject to repeatable fines ranging from NT$500,000 to NT$10 million.
Regulators are authorized to block such investments in part or in full if they are found to endanger national security, hinder economic development, breach international treaties or conventions, or involve unresolved and significant labor disputes.
Investors in start-ups are eligible for tax incentives during the first five years of their investment, provided the amount exceeds NT$500,000.
Additionally, investments in start-ups operating in industries designated as critical to national economic development can receive annual tax breaks of up to NT$5 million a year.
The collection of stock transfer tax could be delayed by five days if the day of the deal falls adjacent to a long weekend, and the penalty for noncompliance has been adjusted.
Taipei on Thursday held urban resilience air raid drills, with residents in one of the exercises’ three “key verification zones” reporting little to no difference compared with previous years, despite government pledges of stricter enforcement. Formerly known as the Wanan exercise, the air raid drills, which concluded yesterday, are now part of the “Urban Resilience Exercise,” which also incorporates the Minan disaster prevention and rescue exercise. In Taipei, the designated key verification zones — where the government said more stringent measures would be enforced — were Songshan (松山), Zhongshan (中山) and Zhongzheng (中正) districts. Air raid sirens sounded at 1:30pm, signaling the
The number of people who reported a same-sex spouse on their income tax increased 1.5-fold from 2020 to 2023, while the overall proportion of taxpayers reporting a spouse decreased by 4.4 percent from 2014 to 2023, Ministry of Finance data showed yesterday. The number of people reporting a spouse on their income tax trended upward from 2014 to 2019, the Department of Statistics said. However, the number decreased in 2020 and 2021, likely due to a drop in marriages during the COVID-19 pandemic and the income of some households falling below the taxable threshold, it said. The number of spousal tax filings rebounded
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
RSS