Taiwan Extends Day Trading Tax Cut Just Before Expiry
Taiwan’s lawmakers have voted to extend the day trading tax cut for three more years, ensuring continued support for the stock market.
Taiwan, Day Trading, Tax Cut, Stock Market, Legislators
Taipei: Taiwan’s lawmakers just made a big move by extending the tax cut for day trading. They decided to keep it going for another three years, right before it was set to expire.
This tax cut, which lowers the transaction tax from 0.3% to 0.15%, has been around since 2017. It’s been a real boost for the stock market, which is worth about $2.5 trillion. That makes it the 10th largest in the world!
There was quite a bit of back-and-forth in parliament over this extension. The ruling party and the opposition were at odds, which made things a bit tense. They’ve been clashing over various issues lately, like the budget and new judge appointments.
Finance Minister Chuang Tsui-yun really pushed for this extension. He warned that not renewing the tax cut could mess with revenue collection and hurt how people feel about the market. The Financial Supervisory Commission even said trading volumes could drop by 30% without the cut.
Day trading is a big deal in Taiwan, making up about 20% of trading volumes. Just last week, it accounted for around 40% of the market’s value. So, this tax cut is pretty important for traders.
On a side note, the Taiex index dipped a bit, closing 0.7% lower. But it’s still had a great year, up 28%, which is the best return since 2009!