TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) announced on Wednesday (Jan. 4) that NT$140 billion (US$4.24 billion) in surplus tax revenue will be distributed to the public in the form of NT$6,000 cash payments per person.
Last year, Taiwan received NT$450 billion in surplus taxes and President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Tuesday (Jan. 3) said that at least part of NT$180 billion in surplus funds would be allocated to the public. On Wednesday, Su announced that NT$140 billion in funds would be disbursed to share in Taiwan's "economic achievements" with each person receiving NT$6,000 as a "Lunar New Year blessing."
During a visit to the Tsengwen Dam in Chiayi County, Su was asked by the media about how much each person would receive. Su said when the Kuomintang (KMT) was in power, there were frequent shortfalls in tax revenues, with a shortfall of NT$200 billion reported in 2009, for example.
However, he said that once Tsai took office, the country has seen surpluses in taxes collected. According to Su, during a meeting to discuss national security, finance, and economics on Dec. 31, Tsai decided to allocate NT$70 billion of the surplus tax revenues to local governments and the NT$380 billion to the central government, which after allocating the funds under a three-point plan issued by Tsai resulted in NT$180 billion left in reserve.
Su said that in order to enable the people to share in Taiwan's "economic achievements" and although the Cabinet is on its annual vacation, all the ministries and commissions are holding a meeting and are working on how to implement Tsai's three-point plan. For the NT$180 billion, NT$40 billion is to be kept in reserve for contingencies, while the rest of the NT$140 billion is to be provided to the public in the form of cash payments of NT$6,000 per person.
According to Su, the legal and technical aspects of implementing the payments are being coordinated among the various ministries. He said that after a final decision is made, it will be approved by the Cabinet and presented by the Legislative Yuan for consideration and approval.
Su expressed his hope that the funds could be provided in time to serve as a "Lunar New Year blessing" (red envelopes) for all the people. However, he said that there is a lot of work that must be done to implement this and that it requires the consent of the Legislative Yuan.
In addition, Su said that there are cash payments that do not need to go through the legislative process that will enable people from low-income households and low- and middle-income households to receive monetary aid. He said an additional NT$750 per person in funds can be provided for low-income households and NT$500 can be disbursed to low- and middle-income households before the Lunar New Year at the earliest.
