The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed the third reading of amendments to the Commodity Tax Act (貨物稅條例) that extend tax incentives to encourage people to replace their old vehicles and purchase new ones.
The amendment to Article 12-5 of the act extends the NT$50,000 tax deduction on replacing old vehicles, including sedans, mini trucks and light passenger-cargo dual-purpose cars — such as pickups — to purchase new ones from Jan. 1 next year to Dec. 31, 2030.
A NT$4,000 tax deduction for replacing old motorcycles with new ones has also been extended to 2030.
Photo: Tsai Yun-jung, Taipei Times
The amendments also offer a NT$50,000 deduction on purchases of new passenger sedans that have an engine displacement of 2,000cc or less, and NT$2,000 on purchases of new 150cc motorcycles.
That means a vehicle owner who scraps his vehicle and buys a new 2,000cc or smaller passenger sedan would enjoy the existing NT$50,000 tax deduction on top of the NT$50,000 deduction approved in the new amendment.
During a legislative committee review of the proposed amendment on Thursday last week, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Ho Chin-tsang (何晉滄) told lawmakers the expanded tax deduction is expected to help first-time buyers, with local automakers looking forward to swift passage of the bill.
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) told lawmakers that the bill meets public expectations and would encourage purchases of more energy-efficient vehicles.
The commodity tax is a major cost in buying a new vehicle in Taiwan, whether it is domestically manufactured or imported, with the tax rates for passenger sedans set at 25 to 30 percent.
The number of electric vehicles sold in Taiwan rose from 1 percent of all new registered cars in 2020 to 7.7 percent of the total of 35,406 vehicles last year, thanks to the commodity tax exemption over the past decade, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Thursday last week.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,