Furloughed workers in the manufacturing and service sectors are to be eligible for subsidies starting next year, the Ministry of Labor said yesterday, as the government announced a series of new policies that are to go into effect from next month.
The ministry’s subsidies would benefit workers in the rubber, metal, electronics, auto parts, machinery and optical products manufacturing sectors, as well as tourism and other service sectors, it said in a news release.
Furloughed workers in the targeted sectors in the first half of next year would be eligible for a subsidy equal to 50 percent of their lost income, defined as the difference between their furlough pay and average salary in the three months before being furloughed, it said.
Photo: CNA
Workforce Development Agency employment services division head Wu Shu-ying (吳淑瑛) said the subsidy is capped at NT$9,200 per month.
Employment figures suggest 8,439 workers would benefit from the measure, Wu added.
Meanwhile, an expansion of the government’s “culture points” program, which provides NT$1,200 in stimulus vouchers to young people to participate in cultural activities, goes into effect next month, the Ministry of Culture said yesterday.
The Young Adult Culture Vouchers program, launched in June to boost spending in the nation’s arts and culture sector, was initially limited to people aged 18 to 21, but from Jan. 20 Taiwanese and foreigners with alien resident certificates aged 16 to 22 would be eligible.
About 1 million to 1.5 million people could benefit from the vouchers, which are to be distributed through a cellphone app, the ministry said.
The points, worth NT$1 each, can be redeemed at participating independent bookstores, music stores, record shops, cultural parks, markets and cinemas screening Taiwanese films, it said.
People who buy books through the program would receive a bonus point for every two points they spend at a participating bookstore, while each purchase of a ticket at a performing arts venue or cinema would earn the buyer 100 additional points, it said.
Among the new policies starting next year is the extension of military conscription to one year, which would affect 9,127 draftees who are to start their service on Jan. 25.
The minimum wage is to increase to NT$183 per hour, and NT$27,470 per month, up from NT$26,400 per month, with labor insurance fees to be adjusted accordingly, government notices said.
The retirement age to qualify for full pension payments is to increase to 64, the notices said.
The cost-of-living portion of tax-exempt income is to rise to NT$202,000, up from NT$196,000, while employer-provided meal deductions in corporate taxes are to increase to NT$3,000 per month, up from NT$2,400, they said.
The tax rules go into effect in May, the notices said.
Social welfare benefits including subsidies for low-income families, national pension payouts and entitlements for elderly farmers are to rise NT$143 to NT$1,190, which would affect about 3.08 million recipients, they said.
The tax exempt portion of gross consolidated income is to be NT$97,000, up from NT$92,000, while standard deductions are to increase to NT$131,000 for each person, up from NT$124,000, they said.
Tax exemptions for rent are to be changed from a standard deduction to an itemized deduction, which increases the theoretical amount of deductions a household can apply for, while the limit on the deductible amount is to rise to NT$180,000, they said.
The amended tax rules would affect tax filings in 2025, the notices said.
Parents who use public childcare facilities are to receive NT$7,000 per month, up from NT$5,500, while those who send their child to a semipublic childcare facility are to receive NT$13,000, up from NT$8,500, they said.
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Donald Trump vowed to reward his supporters, while President William Lai said he was confident the Taiwan-US partnership would continue Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the US early yesterday morning, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts. With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency. As of press time last night, The Associated Press had Trump on 277 electoral college votes to 224 for US Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee, with Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Michigan and Nevada yet to finalize results. He had 71,289,216 votes nationwide, or 51 percent, while Harris had 66,360,324 (47.5 percent). “We’ve been through so
RSS