TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's legislators agreed on Tuesday (Dec. 16) to extend electric vehicle tax exemptions for five more years through Dec. 31, 2030. The Legislative Yuan's (立法院), Taiwan's parliament, Finance Committee (財政委員會) finalized the decision after cross-party negotiations involving all major political parties. The extension aims to promote electric vehicle adoption and advance environmental sustainability goals across the island.
The Executive Yuan (行政院), Taiwan's cabinet, previously approved amendments to the Commodity Tax Act (貨物稅條例) and the Vehicle License Tax Act (使用牌照稅法) proposing the tax exemption extension. The Finance Committee reviewed these amendments before sending them to cross-party negotiations. Lawmakers from all parties unanimously agreed on the extension during the discussions, clearing a key legislative hurdle for the measure.
Kuomintang (KMT, 國民黨), Taiwan's main opposition party, legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘) proposed including hybrid vehicles with an electric range exceeding 80 kilometers (49.7 miles) in the tax exemption. However, Tsou Yu-hsin (鄒宇新), deputy director-general of the Industrial Development Administration (產業發展署), opposed the proposal. Tsou noted that no domestic vehicles currently meet such criteria, meaning only imported cars would benefit from the expanded exemption.
Lin withdrew his proposal after understanding the economic ministry's stance, allowing the amendments to proceed as the Executive Yuan initially proposed. Lin stated that the Legislative Yuan could pass the amendments in a third reading as early as Friday (Dec. 19), potentially making the tax extension official before year's end and providing certainty for electric vehicle buyers. ◼