On 3 November 2020, Minxiong Office, Taiwan’s National Taxation Bureau of the Southern Area (NTBSA), Ministry of Finance indicated that, in accordance with Article 9-1 of the Special Act for Prevention, Relief and Revitalization Measures for COVID-19(hereinafter as “the Act), income tax shall be waived for subsidies, support, allowances, incentives, or compensation provided by the government to individuals or entities affected by the COVID-19 in accordance with this Special Act, Article 53 of the Communicable Disease Control Act, or other laws or regulations. Therefore, while profit-seeking enterprises are impacted by COVID-19, subsidies received from the government based on the Act above are tax-exempted.
Minxiong Office further explained that, in general, government subsidies paid to the profit-seeking enterprises shall be enumerated under “other revenue headings.’’ However, on 21 April 2020, in order to provide compensation and relief, Article 9-1 of the Act was added, which clearly stipulates that subsidies offered by the government due to COVID-19 are exempt from income tax.
