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Tax filing deadline extended as Covid cases rise
The Ministry of Finance has backtracked on a previous decision to only extend the 31 May tax filing deadline to people directly affected by the coronavirus to all taxpayers.
The move comes after an announcement earlier this week that the ministry was only pushing back the deadline to 30 June for people being treated for the virus or in quarantine.
That policy had been slammed by lawmakers - who argued the government should grant a general extension of the filing period until the end of June for all taxpayers due to the surge in domestic coronavirus infections.
According to the finance ministry, it chose to introduce a blanket extension to the tax filing deadline until 30 June in order to reduce the risk of cluster infections at tax offices.The extension will apply to both individual and business tax filings and payments, as well as for the payment of property taxes.
This comes as the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) reported 11,517 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, another daily record high for Taiwan since the pandemic began.Of that total, 11,353 are domestic infections. New Taipei has once again reported the highest number of cases, with 4,552. That's followed by Taipei with 2,424, Taoyuan with 1,481, Taichung with 621, and Keelung with 504 cases.
The two deaths have been confirmed, a man in his 70s and a woman in her 60s, both of whom had been unvaccinated. Those deaths bring the total here in Taiwan since the pandemic began to 860. The CECC says another 23 patients had developed moderate infections and three have developed severe infections.
Of the 51,663 domestic cases recorded this year, 142 have been classified as moderate infections and 17 as severe, while the remainder have been either mild or asymptomatic.
The CECC also reported 164 new imported cases, 115 of which tested positive on arriving in Taiwan. Nearly half of yesterday's total supply of rationed Covid-19 rapid test kits were sold, in the first four hours after pharmacies opened their doors for business.
In related news, the government began the rationing of rapid test kits yesterday, and as of 11AM, a total of 199,000 had already been sold, about half of the 400,000 available for sale across the country.
A spokesperson for the Federation of Taiwan Pharmacists Associations says it's estimated that less than 2% of the population will be able to acquire the rapid tests. And he has appealed to people to avoid rushing their purchase, unless it is urgent.He reminded the public to check the online Rapid Test Kit Rationing Map, or to call by phone, to confirm whether nearby pharmacies have them in stock.
