A total of 21 amendments to the Income Tax Act were approved by the Legislative Finance Committee June 4, a major step forward in achieving fairer taxation in Taiwan, according to the ROC Ministry of Finance.
After a marathon review session lasting 13 hours, the committee greenlighted five bills submitted by the MOF, caucuses of the ruling Kuomintang, opposition Democratic Progressive Party and People First Party, and DPP Legislator Hsu Tain-tsair.
MOF Minister Chang Sheng-ford expects the proposals to be fast-tracked through party review sessions and integrated into a single bill.
“The ministry has no preference as to which bill is finally passed into law, as long as the legislation is in line with the central government’s policy goals,” he said. “We remain optimistic that the bill will clear the legislative floor before the current session ends.”
Hu Yu-wei, spokesman for the Cabinet, said ROC Premier Sean C. Chen is pleased with progress to date. “We will work closely with lawmakers to draft easily implementable legislation capable of achieving taxation equality while generating greater tax revenues.”
With the current legislative session scheduled to end June 15, Lu Shiow-yen, Finance Committee head and KMT legislator, said the Legislature may need to convene in July to review the bills.
According to the MOF, the securities gains tax will be implemented in 2013, with less than 20,000 individual investors affected. (JSM)
Write to Meg Chang at sfchang@mail.mofa.gov.tw