[Finance] Quitting Jobs to Speculate in Stocks? Legislator Suggests Tax System to Retain Workforce; Finance Minister Agrees to Study

Benefiting from the development of the AI industry, the Taipei stock market has performed brilliantly recently. Many office workers have quit their jobs to invest in the stock market. Today (15th), legislators on the Finance Committee of the Legislative Yuan expressed concern about forgetting the importance of labor income and suggested increasing the special deduction for salary income and imposing higher taxes on high-asset groups. Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun promised today (15th) during her inquiry at the Finance Committee of the Legislative Yuan that relevant suggestions will be considered. Chuang stated that income tax currently accounts for over 50% of the total tax revenue, with corporate income tax having a higher proportion, and comprehensive income tax accounting for about 20%+. As for the special deduction for salary income, it will be increased to NT$227,000 for the 2026 fiscal year, an increase of about NT$9,000 from the previous year, applicable to tax filings next year. Kuomintang legislator Lai Ssu-bao believes that facing the trend of increasing wealth polarization, "it can be further increased." He urged the Ministry of Finance to consider how to alleviate the problem of income distribution imbalance from a tax system perspective. He pointed out that some states in the United States impose additional taxes on high-net-worth individuals, and Taiwan could also consider a wealth tax, luxury housing tax, or increasing the tax rates on certain high-priced goods such as yachts and luxury cars, commonly known as "luxury taxes," to regulate wealth distribution through the tax system. Chuang responded that there are already excise taxes. The Ministry of Finance will further study and evaluate the direction of wealth tax and excise tax review proposed by the legislators. The results are expected to be available in about 3 months. (Editor: Shen Chen-chiang)