Tax
1、Draft Amendment to “Income Tax Act”
On 2 May 2024, the Executive Yuan passed the draft amendment to the “Income Tax Act”, which is subject to the review of the Legislative Yuan. We summarize below:
(1) To amend the tax withholders from natural persons including the responsible persons of enterprises and the head of the unit responsible for tax withholding, to enterprises, organizations and institutions, etc. themselves;
(2) To add that, the time limit for non-residents’ payment of taxes withheld and submitting and issuing tax-withholding certificate may be extended for 5 days if encountering 3 consecutive days of national holiday; and
(3) To amend the amount of fine for failure to report or submit tax-withholding certificate truthfully within time limit, from a fixed rate of the amount of payment or tax amount withheld, to within the specified maximum and minimum amount.
Reported by: Stacy Lo/ Zoe Chen
Labor
2、Amendment to Qualifications and Criteria Standards for Foreigners Undertaking the Jobs Specified Under Subparagraph 1 to 6 of Paragraph 1 of Article 46 of the Employment Service Act
On 2 May 2024, the Ministry of Labor announced the amendment to the draft “Qualifications and Criteria Standards for Foreigners Undertaking the Jobs Specified Under Subparagraphs 1 to 6 of Paragraph 1 of Article 46 of the Employment Service Act” for public consultation. We summarize below:
(1) To add the social worker as the specialized or technical work;
(2) To add that the job description shall include the investment of the security and financial business, trading, and audit for the finance and business for the foreigner to be employed for the job of tax/financial service;
(3) To add that the foreigner employed to work as the social worker shall engage in the business of social related work and obtain the professional/technical certificate issued by the competent authority of the central government;
(4) To add that the employer employing the foreigner to work as the social worker shall meet certain requirements; and
(5) To add that the job descriptions shall include the dispatch, supervision, operation, instruction, research and development, development, testing, inspection, audit, training, display, quality control, technology development and introduction for the foreigner to be employer for the job of manufacture industry.
Reported by : David Tsai/ Julia Kuo
Intellectual Property
3、Guidelines for Accelerated Examination of Trademark Applications
On 30 April 2024, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) announced the “Guidelines for Accelerated Examination of Trademark Applications” took effect as of 1 May 2024. We summarize below:
(1) Types of cases eligible for accelerated examination
Trademark applications eligible for accelerated examination include the following:
(a) trademark applications wherein all goods or services as designated have been actually used or substantially prepared well for use; and
(b) trademark applications wherein parts of goods or services as designated have been actually used or substantially prepared well for use, and it is imperative and urgent in commerce to pursue the rights.
(2) Requests for accelerated examination
An applicant or an agent thereof shall submit to Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) a request for accelerated examination for one trademark application, reciting the facts and reasons, providing evidences and paying government fees, at the same time a trademark application is filed or at the latest before the first office action is issued.
(3) Procedure of accelerated examination
(a) The accelerated examination shall be initiated upon the full payment of government fees. In principle, TIPO will issue the first office action within 2 months after the initiation.
(b) In case the documents as required are incomplete, TIPO shall issue an office action requiring a supplement and/or amendment within 10 working days after the filing is accepted; alternatively, an interview may be conducted to reduce the time spent on document exchange.
(c) Principally, TIPO shall make a decision within 15 working days after the supplement and/or amendment, or an observation is submitted.
Reported by: Jolene Wang / Alex Miao
4、Implementation of the amendments to Enforcement Rules of Trademark Act
On 1 May 2024, the MOEA announced that the amendments to the “Enforcement Rules of Trademark Act” took effect as of 1 May 2024. Please refer to Lexgroup Newsletter (Issue No. 433) for the key points of the amendments.
Reported by: Jolene Wang / Alex Miao
Insurance
5、Explanation of Regulations Governing Implementation of Internal Control and Auditing System of Insurance Enterprises
On 3 May 2024, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) announced a ruling to explain Subparagraph 3, Paragraph 3, Article 32 of the “Regulations Governing Implementation of Internal Control and Auditing System of Insurance Enterprises”. The aforementioned regulation provides that before an insurance enterprise introduces a new insurance product or an insurance product deemed to constitute material change by the competent authority and requires approval by the competent authority before marketing, the head office chief compliance officer shall issue and sign an opinion statement undertaking that the product complies with applicable laws, regulations and internal rules. This ruling indicates that the signing of such opinion statement shall be completed before the sale of the aforementioned insurance products.
Reported by: David Tsai / Sean Tsai
Securities
6、Amendment to Article 23 of Regulations Governing Securities Firms Accepting Orders to Trade Foreign Securities
On 8 May 2024, the FSC announced the amendment to Article 23 of “Regulations Governing Securities Firms Accepting Orders to Trade Foreign Securities.” Considering the practical needs of securities firms, it is further permitted that a securities firm may engage the Taiwan Depository Clearing Corporation as its custodian of foreign securities purchased.
Reported by: Jeffrey Liu / Winnie Su
SITE/SICE
7、Amendment to Incentive Policy for Onshore Funds
On 30 April 2024, the FSC announced the amendment to the “Incentive Policy for Onshore Funds” to revise certain indicators for the aspect of “investment and research capability.” We summarize below:
(1) The calculation base for the indicator that the number or scale of funds with foreign sub-delegation or foreign advisor arrangement shall be under 1/2 now excludes passively managed funds.
(2) The indicator that at least three types of funds have an average return rate higher than the industry average has been revised to apply only to actively managed funds.
(3) The indicator concerning the size or proportion of the investment research team over the past three years has been revised to exclude managers of passively managed funds, and the requirements for the relevant numbers and proportions of such personnel have been reduced. The calculation base for the average scale of assets under management under this indicator has also been revised from “excluding money market funds (MMF)” to “excluding both MMF and passively managed funds.”
(4) The calculation base for the indicator regarding the average scale of assets under management being in the top third or reaching a certain amount has been revised to replace “ETF” with “passively managed funds.”
Reported by: Jeffrey Liu / Jason Su
8、Amendment to The Securities Investment Trust and Consulting Association Key Points for Staff Training Plan of Offshore Funds
On 10 May 2024, the Securities Investment Trust and Consulting Association announced the amendments to “The Securities Investment Trust and Consulting Association Key Points for Staff Training Plan of Offshore Funds”. We summarize below:
(1) To add that the master agent shall identify and avoid conflicts of interest arising from training plans; and
(2) To add that the master agent shall, clearly establish mechanisms for identifying and preventing conflicts of interest or potential conflicts of interest arising from master agent business in its internal control system.
Reported by: Jeffrey Liu / Winnie Su
| Editors: Mike Lu (Partner) Stacy Lo (Partner) Jeffrey Liu (Partner) Kang-Shen Liu (Partner) David Tsai (Partner) Angela Lin (Partner) Paul Hsu (Partner) | Counselors: Echo Yeh Sue Su Jolene Wang (Lexcel Partners IP Firm) |