2020 Five New Regulations Take Effect – Watch Out or Your Wallet Will Take a Hit

By / Scenic Spot Home News Report

As 2019 comes to a close, - also established and updated many policies and systems for the new year. The following five items cover areas such as salaries, transportation, and environmental protection. These major new measures and policies for 2020 – take a look right away.

1.Department stores and hypermarkets banned from providing disposable tableware
 
To promote plastic reduction policies, eight counties and cities – including Taipei, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Taoyuan, Hualien, Yilan, and Penghu – implemented a ban on disposable tableware in shopping malls and department stores starting January 1, 2020. Kaohsiung will implement the policy on March 1, 2020.
 
For hypermarkets, Yilan and Hualien also implemented the disposable tableware ban on January 1, 2020, while Taipei, New Taipei, Kaohsiung, and Taoyuan will enforce it on May 1, 2020, and Changhua on July 1, 2020.

2.Minimum wage increase

The minimum wage has been raised again in 2020, with the monthly wage increasing from NT$23,100 to NT$23,800, and the hourly wage rising from the original NT$150 to NT$158.

3.Tax-exempt thresholds for invoices and lottery tickets raised
 
Starting December 1, 2019, the Ministry of Finance raised the tax-exempt thresholds for unified invoices, charity lottery tickets, and sports lottery tickets from the original NT$2,000 to NT$5,000. As a result, only prizes exceeding NT$5,000 will be subject to the 20% tax deduction going forward.

4.Transportation subsidies
 
Starting January 1, 2020, electric scooter subsidies were reduced from the original NT$10,000 to NT$7,000, motorcycle trade-in subsidies range from NT$1,000 to NT$5,000, motorcycle driving school subsidies increased from NT$1,000 to NT$13,000, and the towing fee on expressways was adjusted to a basic charge of up to NT$1,500 for the first 10 km for small vehicles, with an additional NT$50 for each kilometer beyond 10 km.