By Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter
The Ministry of Finance yesterday reported a strong year-on-year increase in tax revenue for last month, driven largely by a surge in securities transaction tax receipts amid a sharp rally in the local equity market. Total tax revenue for the month rose 23 percent year-on-year to NT$189.5 billion (US$6.02 billion) led by increases in revenue collected from securities transaction tax, individual income tax and business tax, the ministry said. The standout contributor was securities transaction tax revenue, which soared to NT$54.6 billion — about 2.1 times the level of the same period last year — setting a new monthly record, ministry data showed.
People file their tax returns for last year at the Taipei National Taxation Bureau’s Zhongzheng office in Taipei on May 4.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Finance ministry statistics official Liu Shun-rong (劉訓蓉) attributed the surge to strong share price gains and high trading volumes. Average daily trading value reached NT$1.14 trillion last month, a 2.4-fold increase from a year earlier and up 23.8 percent from the previous month, she said.
The benchmark TAIEX repeatedly hit record highs during the month, supported by global market strength and the artificial intelligence boom, despite the US-Israeli war on Iran. Cumulative securities transaction tax revenue for the first four months of this year amounted to NT$178.3 billion, accounting for 71.3 percent of the annual budget target. While Liu said it remains too early to determine whether the full-year goal can be met in the first half, she said that collections have been running at an unusually strong pace. Individual income tax revenue posted solid growth last month, rising 15.5 percent year-on-year to NT$57 billion, mainly driven by higher withholding from profit distributions, Liu said. Land value increment tax revenue rose 4.8 percent to NT$5.6 billion last month, but cumulative revenue in the first four months fell 11.3 percent to NT$22.2 billion, reflecting weaker property transactions and fewer large tax payments, she said. By contrast, corporate income tax revenue fell last month, weighed down by large-scale tax refunds, and commodity tax revenue dropped, reflecting continued weakness in automobile sales, higher rebates for new vehicle purchases and expanded fuel tax reductions, she added. Total tax revenue for the first four months of this year reached NT$845 billion, up 19.3 percent year-on-year and 13.7 percent above the budget target, Liu said.