Taiwan may halve commodity tax on hybrid cars

Those who purchase hybrid cars may see their commodity tax halved within five years and those who buy electric vehicles will be exempt from this tax during the same span of time, according to draft revisions to the commodity tax statute that passed the first reading by the finance committee of Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan. The commodity tax reduction for hybrid cars and exemption for electric cars was proposed by lawmaker Sun Ta-chien of the ruling Kuomintang as an additional article, 12-3, in the draft revisions to the commodity tax statute. Domestic automakers have yet to invest heavily in the development of energy-saving cars, such as hybrid cars or electric cars, due to the lack of clear-cut incentives offered by the government, Sun said. (November 12, 2009)