The Cabinet’s Tax Reform Committee, which is to hold final discussions on green tax reform on Monday, is set to slash a proposed tax on carbon dioxide emissions from NT$2,000 per tonne to NT$750 per tonne to quell industry resistance.
Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research president Daigee Shaw (蕭代基), who was commissioned to study the issue, said yesterday that he had no choice but to make concessions to facilitate reform.
His latest report calls for a NT$9.55 energy tax and a NT$0.17 greenhouse gas tax — slashed from NT$0.45 — for each liter of gasoline sold. Different levy rates would also apply to liquid natural gas, coal and other energy sources.
“The figures came after a string of consultations and bargaining,” Shaw said. “Critics remain skeptical.”
The proposed energy and carbon taxes for fuel would go up by NT$1.7 and NT$0.17 each year until they reach NT$24.45 and NT$1.7 respectively in the 10th year when an evaluation is recommended to consider rate adjustments, the report said. The proposed taxes would combine 13 existing environmental taxes and put tax rates at a level comparable to those paid in South Korea and Japan.
If realized, the reform would shrink the national treasury in the first year by NT$8.2 billion (US$254.8 million), but would create NT$435.1 billion in tax revenues in the 10th year, down from NT$810 million as previous proposals suggested, the report said.
The tax plan, which requires approval from the Cabinet and legislature, aims to reduce carbon emissions by 46.47 million tonnes in the 10th year — only 39 percent of the goal set by the National Energy Conference earlier this year, the report said.
Taiwan’s 23 million people rank among the top 20 per capita emitters of carbon dioxide in the world at 11.4 tonnes per person.
Shaw said the compromise is intended to ease the impact on sectors that consume a lot of energy as well as the overall economy because business representatives have frowned on the tax reform. The Ministry of Economic Affairs is collecting last-minute responses to the findings, the academic said.
To placate industry, the report suggests exempting energy product exports, certain fluorinated greenhouse gases and manufacturing raw materials from the tax altogether.
“The design is expected to minimize the impact of the green tax on the petrochemical industry,” Shaw said.
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) has voiced concerns that it would shoulder the brunt of the tax reform.
The additional tax revenues would be used to subsidize low-income earners and public transportation as well as fund tax cuts to encourage energy conservation and improve the nation’s finances, the report said.
Shaw objects to the idea of using the fund to subsidize companies for investment in energy conservation, saying the practice would only keep unprofitable firms alive and ultimately increase total carbon emissions.
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines yesterday after holding combat drills with Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China. The Charles de Gaulle on Friday docked at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Philippine forces, navy ships and fighter jets. They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in
COMBAT READINESS: The military is reviewing weaponry, personnel resources, and mobilization and recovery forces to adjust defense strategies, the defense minister said The military has released a photograph of Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) appearing to sit beside a US general during the annual Han Kuang military exercises on Friday last week in a historic first. In the photo, Koo, who was presiding over the drills with high-level officers, appears to be sitting next to US Marine Corps Major General Jay Bargeron, the director of strategic planning and policy of the US Indo-Pacific Command, although only Bargeron’s name tag is visible in the seat as “J5 Maj General.” It is the first time the military has released a photo of an active
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
RSS