The government would continue to push for higher wages, lower taxes and improved benefits to support women in the workplace and care for the youngest and eldest members of society, President William Lai (賴清德) said in an exclusive interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) published today.
About half of the population does not pay income tax, while the top 1 percent of earners contribute almost half of Taiwan’s tax revenue, he said.
Lai vowed to continue promoting the tax-reduction initiatives started by former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), with a new policy next year to exempt young workers earning less than NT$620,000 (US$20,335) per year from income tax.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Moreover, families of four with two children below the age of five and combined household income below NT$1.641 million would be tax-exempt, while families caring for two elderly members would be exempt for up to NT$2 million, he said.
The new measures would continue efforts to reduce wealth inequality, he added.
Lai also highlighted new regulations targeting foreign workers, saying he would continue to press the Ministry of Labor to ensure that businesses increase wages to a set minimum before being eligible to hire foreign workers.
Regulations would also be eased to allow families with one child up to age 12 to apply for a foreign domestic helper, allowing women to more easily enter the workforce and ease the burden on working mothers, he said.
Currently, the policy is limited to families with two children under six.
Tsai promoted a national childcare policy for children aged up to six and the Long-term Care Plan 2.0 — which created a community care system — to address Taiwan’s low birthrate and aging population, Lai said.
Lai said he is now promoting the second and third editions of those plans respectively to continue to care for Taiwan’s oldest and youngest citizens.
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