From today, the total value of duty-free items that each person is allowed to bring back into the country is to be raised to NT$35,000 (US$1,079) from NT$20,000, the Customs Administration said yesterday.
The duty-free limit was first set in 1989, and many people have proposed an adjustment given the significant increase in the consumer price index over the past three decades and purchasing power, the agency said.
The new figure was set after taking account the limits in Japan, South Korea and other Asian countries, the agency said.
Photo: Tony Yao, Taipei Times
The new policy is estimated to lead to loss in tax revenue of about NT$3.05 million per year, it added.
In other news, EVA Airways was rated eighth among the world’s top 10 airlines by Skytrax, up from ninth last year.
It was the only Taiwanese carrier that made the Top 10.
EVA ranked first in the Best Premium Economy Class Catering and Best Premium Economy Class Onboard Catering in Asia categories.
“Winning the Skytrax five-star airline certification for the ninth consecutive year is the best recognition of the unremitting efforts and excellent service of all EVA Air employees, and it is also an honor for every employee,” EVA Airways president Clay Sun (孫嘉明) said. “EVA Airways thanks every passenger for their trust and support, and will continue to pursue excellence and surpass ourselves in the future.”
Starlux Airlines ranked No. 35 among the 350 airlines under evaluation, up from No. 39 last year, while China Airlines ranked No. 44, down from No. 41 last year.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
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