The legislature yesterday passed a highly anticipated spending plan to redistribute surplus tax revenue, including a NT$6,000 (US$197.67) handout to citizens and eligible foreign nationals beginning on April 6.
The bill to distribute NT$379.9 billion from surplus tax revenues was approved by lawmakers across party lines after they agreed to cut NT$120 million, or 3.29 percent, from the proposed NT$380 billion.
The bill, proposed by the Cabinet late last month, budgets tax surplus from fiscal 2022 and would be used until 2025 to cover debts accumulated by state-run companies and programs, and provide incentives to help boost the economy.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
A total of NT$141.7 billion is budgeted for the NT$6,000 cash handout foreign nationals with permanent residency and resident spouses of Taiwanese nationals are also eligible to receive.
Foreign nationals without permanent residency are not eligible, regardless of whether they have paid taxes in Taiwan.
Other allocations include NT$30 billion to the Labor Insurance fund, NT$20 billion to the National Health Insurance fund and NT$50 billion to state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower), all of which have been operating at a loss.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs is to receive NT$31.7 billion for subsidies to small and medium-sized enterprises and the manufacturing sector.
Another NT$10.3 billion is to go to the Ministry of Health and Welfare for financial assistance to low-income and lower-middle-income households, people with disabilities and other disadvantaged groups.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to receive NT$27.4 billion to subsidize public transportation fares and provide incentives for foreign tourists to visit Taiwan.
Aside from NT$1.3 billion that is being held in reserve, the remaining surplus revenues are to go to the education, culture and interior ministries for subsidies and programs.
Dozens of proposed changes to the bill were rejected yesterday after being put to the vote, including a proposal by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to raise the cash handout to NT$10,000.
Speaking after the bill’s passage, KMT caucus whip William Tseng (曾銘宗) said he hopes the cash handouts help Taiwanese, despite the failure of his party to increase the amount.
However, Tseng criticized the allocation of NT$50 billion to Taipower, saying the company’s financial problems were caused by the government’s failures in its energy policy.
Taipower has denied similar claims and blamed “soaring international fuel prices” for its losses.
The company recorded losses of NT$267.5 billion last year and NT$32.1 billion, before tax, in January, an increase of NT$5.9 billion over the same month last year.
Although the soaring cost of natural gas and other fuels was at the root of the losses, Taipower was not able to pass on the costs to power users as the government tried to manage inflation.
The government has also moved to use natural gas more aggressively in Taiwan’s overall power mix as it phases out nuclear power and reduces the use of coal-fired power plants because of emissions concerns, leaving Taiwan more vulnerable to increases in the fuel’s price.
Despite government reluctance to raise electricity prices, it agreed on March 17 to do so to “reflect costs.”
Households and small businesses are to see an average electricity price increase of 2.6 percent starting on Saturday next week, while industries would be affected by a more marked increase of 14.2 percent.
Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) thanked lawmakers shortly after the bill was passed and said the government would do its best to allocate the cash payments “as soon as possible.”
Online registration for the cash handouts began on Wednesday.
People who complete registration before Monday are to receive payment as early as April 6 via direct deposit, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said.
Retrieval via ATMs would be available from April 10, and at post offices from April 17.
Additional reporting by Chung Li-hua
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s (劉德華) concert in Taipei tonight has been cancelled due to Typhoon Kong-rei and is to be held at noon on Saturday instead, the concert organizer SuperDome said in a statement this afternoon. Tonight’s concert at Taipei Arena was to be the first of four consecutive nightly performances by Lau in Taipei, but it was called off at the request of Taipei Metro, the operator of the venue, due to the weather, said the organizer. Taipei Metro said the concert was cancelled out of consideration for the audience’s safety. The decision disappointed a number of Lau’s fans who had
Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56
FATALITIES: The storm claimed at least two lives — a female passenger in a truck that was struck by a falling tree and a man who was hit by a utility pole Workers cleared fallen trees and shop owners swept up debris yesterday after one of the biggest typhoons to hit the nation in decades claimed at least two lives. Typhoon Kong-rey was packing winds of 184kph when it slammed into eastern Taiwan on Thursday, uprooting trees, triggering floods and landslides, and knocking out power as it swept across the nation. A 56-year-old female foreign national died from her injuries after the small truck she was in was struck by a falling tree on Provincial Highway 14A early on Thursday. The second death was reported at 8pm in Taipei on Thursday after a 48-year-old man