People with an annual income of NT$620,000 (US$20,495) or less would be exempt from income tax when filing taxes in May next year, President William Lai (賴清德) said on Sunday, although a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator said such an exemption already existed.
The exemption would benefit 40 to 50 percent of the population, making this year the year with the “lightest tax burden” in the nation’s history, Lai said, adding that the majority of income tax would be paid by the top 1 percent of earners.
Democratic Progressive Party caucus secretary-general Chen Pei-yu (陳培瑜) yesterday said that the tax cuts still need to be discussed with the Ministry of Finance and require comprehensive supporting measures.
Photo: Tyrone Siu, Reuters
However, the policy was met with doubt by the opposition party, with KMT Legislator Hsu Yu-chen (許宇甄) calling it empty political rhetoric, essentially using the existing system to deceive the public.
This year’s exemptions and deductions already include a personal exemption of NT$97,000, a standard deduction of NT$131,000, a salary deduction of NT$218,000 and a rental deduction of NT$180,000, totaling NT$626,000 per taxpayer, Hsu said.
Tax exemptions for those earning NT$50,000 per month have been in effect since the tax filings for last year, she said.
Taiwan’s tax structure is highly imbalanced, she said, adding that Ministry of Finance data showed that in 2023, 43.8 percent of the 6.883 million income tax filings were tax-exempt.
About 64,000 households, or 0.93 percent of all households nationwide, had net taxable income — total income minus exemptions and deductions — of more than NT$5 million, which accounted for NT$207.9 billion or 43.3 percent of income tax revenue, including dividend taxes, Hsu said.
Therefore, less than 1 percent of wealthy households paid more than 40 percent of total income tax revenue for 2023, Hsu said.
The data also reflected low incomes across the nation, she said.
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) yesterday said that private-sector refiners are willing to stop buying Russian naphtha should the EU ask them to, after a group of non-governmental organizations, including the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), criticized the nation’s continued business with the country. While Taiwan joined the US and its Western allies in putting broad sanctions on Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022, it did not explicitly ban imports of naphtha, a major hard-currency earner for Russia. While state-owned firms stopped importing Russian oil in 2023, there is no restriction on private companies to
INDUSTRY: Beijing’s latest export measures go beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related tech, an academic said Taiwanese industries could face significant disruption from China’s newly tightened export controls on rare earth elements, as much of Taiwan’s supply indirectly depends on Chinese materials processed in Japan, a local expert said yesterday. Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈), director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, said that China’s latest export measures go far beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related technologies. With Japan and Southeast Asian countries among those expected to be hit, Taiwan could feel the impact through its reliance on Japanese-made semi-finished products and
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