SOCIETY
Tax change could aid 2.3m
About 2.3 million households could benefit from an upward adjustment of the basic living expense per person this year, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said on Friday. The Taxpayer Rights Protection Act (納稅者權利保護法) stipulates that people should not be taxed on the amount they need to cover basic expenses, which is set at 60 percent of the preceding year’s median disposable per capita income. The latest survey of family income released on Friday by the DGBAS showed that median disposable income was NT$337,000 per person last year, up NT$11,000 from 2021. Based on that figure, the basic living expense for this year, which applies to taxpayers and their dependents, would be NT$202,000, which is NT$6,000 more than it was last year. When basic living expenses exceed the combined personal tax exemption, standard deduction and special deductions, the difference can be deducted from the taxpayer’s gross income. For a family of four, the extra NT$24,000 cushion provided by the higher basic living expense standard would provide income tax savings of NT$1,200 at a 5 percent tax rate and NT$2,880 at a 12 percent tax rate.
SOCIETY
Festival to limit Taipei traffic
Traffic controls are to be imposed around Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕) area today, the final day of the Taipei Summer Festival, which is to culminate in an eight-minute fireworks display, the city’s police department said yesterday. Traffic controls are to be imposed across several roads leading to and around the Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕碼頭) area from 6pm to 9:30pm, it said. The sections closed to vehicles would include Liangzhou Street, Yanping N Road, Changan W Road, Tacheng Street and Zhengshou Road, it said. Traffic is to be blocked at nine entry points, including the intersection of Minsheng W Road and Chongqing N Road, as well as the intersection of Nanjing W Road and Chongqing N Road, it said. At the same time, two-way traffic controls are to be implemented on a section of the elevated Huanhe Expressway between Minzu W Road and Zhongxiao Bridge. From 7:30pm to 9pm, crowd controls would be imposed for sidewalks on Zhongxiao Bridge and Taipei Bridge, police said. Riverside parking lots from Gates No. 3 to No. 5 near Dadaocheng would remain closed to vehicles throughout the day. The closing fireworks display for the festival is to start at 8:35pm.
CRIME
Man investigated for killing
A man is being investigated for homicide after allegedly slitting his girlfriend’s throat with a fruit knife while sitting behind her on a scooter she was driving, Kaohsiung police said yesterday. The incident happened while the couple, both from Vietnam, were traveling on Chenggong Road in the city’s Gangshan District (岡山) on Tuesday night, police told a news conference. The man then stabbed himself with the knife, after which the pair fell to the ground, police said, adding that the knife was found at the scene. The woman was pronounced dead at a local hospital, while the man was unconscious, police said. The suspect regained consciousness yesterday, and is being investigated by the Ciaotou District Prosecutors’ Office. Based on video footage from nearby surveillance cameras, the incident might have been as a result of a dispute between the couple, police said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
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