Taiwan tax revenues top US$62 billion in 2015

2016/01/14

Taiwan reported its highest tax revenues of NT$2.1 trillion (US$62.9 billion) in 2015, reflecting strong corporate sector performance over the previous 12 months, according to the Ministry of Finance Jan. 12.

The year-on-year increase of 7.2 percent is NT$171.3 billion above target. With more payments set to come in before the Jan. 15 collection deadline, the MOF expects the surplus to reach a record NT$190 billion.

Among the major payments, business income taxes rose 14.5 percent to a best-ever NT$461.2 billion, while consolidated income collections followed suit with a gain of 15.1 percent for a new high of NT$472.7 billion.

“Healthier corporate earning distributions, individual wages and other income sources are the reasons for the rosy numbers,” an MOF official said.

Other notable contributors include commodity taxes, up 5.3 percent to NT$182.1 billion, and land appreciation taxes, up 11.6 percent to NT$113.5 billion.

In particular, collections of land appreciation taxes more than doubled to NT$23.6 billion last month, the third highest on record. The official attributed this jump to increased market activity before the imposition Jan. 1 of a single tax on real estate transactions calculated using a property’s combined market value.

While business taxes decreased 2.4 percent to NT$326.9 billion as a result of dropping global oil prices, the official said the number will likely turn positive after adjustments are made later this month.

On the downside, securities transaction taxes fell away 7.6 percent to NT$81.9 billion due to reduced transaction volume on the local bourses. Luxury taxes also dropped 24.9 percent to NT$4.1 billion, the lowest since 2012.

Although the MOF expects the nation’s tax revenues to continue rising this year, it cautioned that uncertainties at home and abroad may force a reassessment of this forecast.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=241203&ctNode=2194&mp=9)