Tax revenue last year increased 7.9 percent from a year earlier to NT$3.73 trillion (US$112.62 billion), exceeding the government’s budget target by NT$497.2 billion, aided by hefty gains in securities transaction, personal income and business tax revenues, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
The real surplus could reach NT$510 billion if late payments are added in, ministry statistician Liu Shun-rong (劉訓蓉) told an online media briefing, adding that it is the fourth consecutive year that revenues exceeded the official target.
Revenue from securities transaction taxes amounted to NT$288 billion, spiking 46 percent from one year earlier, as average daily turnover swelled 42.6 percent to NT$477.4 billion, Liu said.
Photo: Clare Cheng, Taipei Times
“The sharp rise came from fund flows to the local bourse to take advantage of the artificial intelligence-stock fever,” Liu said.
The TAIEX rallied 28.47 percent last year, second only to the US’ tech-heavy NASDAQ’s 29.81 percent gain, she said.
Corporate income tax revenue grew 3.6 percent to NT$1.12 trillion even though non-tech firms took a hard hit from a lingering global economic slowdown and overproduction from Chinese peers, Liu said, attributing the small increase to a relatively low base in 2023 due to profit declines and temporary tax relief measures.
Revenue from personal income tax expanded 8.9 percent to NT$822.2 billion, aided by higher cash dividends and capital gains from property transfers, she said.
The first half of last year saw a bullish housing market, propelled by favorable lending terms for first-home purchases. The trend boosted housing loans near a record-high in August, prompting the central bank to expand credit controls in September to pre-empt what it called a repeat of the housing bubble bust seen in the US in 2008.
Revenue from land value increase tax upon resale of real-
estate properties gained 5.3 percent to NT$99 billion, the ministry reported.
Business tax revenue expanded 6.4 percent to NT$608.9 billion, as domestic banks benefitted from interest rate hikes, while local suppliers of electronic components reaped a windfall from active investment in artificial intelligence by US cloud service providers, it said.
Additionally, revenue from entertainment tax grew more than two-fold, as Taiwanese packed major music concerts and sports events, Liu said.
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