Taiwan approves energy tax levy

Taiwan’s tax reform committee approved plans to levy new taxes on energy and carbon dioxide emissions, which the government could start collecting as soon as 2011, Deputy Minister of Finance Chang Sheng-Ford said. The new taxes are part of Taiwan’s efforts to cut emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), to 2008 levels by 2016, and to 2000 levels by 2025. The plans approved taxes on sources of energy such as fossil fuels and CO2 emissions, but not the broader environment tax proposed earlier by the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, a government-funded think tank. According to CIER estimates, annual revenue from the energy tax could reach NT$164.7 billion (US$5.11 billion) in 10 years and annual revenue from the CO2 emissions tax could reach NT$239 billion (US$7.41 billion). (October 19, 2009)