The Legislative Yuan today approved an amendment to raise the annual long-term care deduction from NT$120,000 (US$3,853) to NT$180,000 to ease the financial burden on households supporting a dependent who requires long-term care.
The change would apply retroactively from Jan. 1 this year and start to take effect in tax filings in May next year.
Under Article 17 of the Income Tax Act (所得稅法), taxpayers can claim the deduction to taxable income for themselves, their spouses or dependents officially recognized by the Ministry of Health and Welfare as requiring long-term care due to physical or cognitive impairment.
Photo: Wang I-sung, Taipei Time
Lawmakers across party lines had submitted proposals to increase the deduction to between NT$180,000 and NT$360,000, citing Taiwan's rapidly aging population and rising caregiving costs.
They later agreed to set the deduction at NT$180,000.
During a review of the measure at a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee in August, Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) said that the NT$120,000 deduction was introduced in 2018, and since, had not been changed.
Most legislators supported raising it to NT$180,000 as a step to address the financial realities of caregiving needs, she said.
The increase would reduce annual tax revenue by about NT$1 billion under current eligibility rules, Taxation Administration Director-General Sung Hsiu-ling (宋秀玲) said.
However, the actual figure is expected to be higher once looser eligibility criteria in the amendment take effect, Sung said.
The Ministry of Finance has estimated that the new measure would benefit about 350,000 taxpayers.
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