At the Cabinet's weekly meeting Thursday, Premier Su Tseng-chang received a Ministry of Labor briefing on adjustments to the national minimum wage. The Cabinet approved the proposed minimum wage hike Wednesday, raising the monthly minimum wage from the current NT$25,250 (US$817) to NT$26,400 (US$855) and the hourly minimum wage from NT$168 (US$5.43) to NT$176 (US$5.70). The wage hike will be implemented beginning January 1, 2023, marking the seventh consecutive year that the minimum wage has been raised since President Tsai Ing-wen took office. The wage hike is forecast to benefit over 2.32 million laborers, with almost 80% or about 1.84 million being local workers.
The 2022 tax-deductible allowance for basic living expenses will also rise from NT$192,000 (US$6,215) to NT$196,000 (US$6,344) per person. This figure will be applied when individuals file their income tax returns in May 2023. The higher deduction is expected to benefit about 2.3 million households, and also marks the sixth consecutive year that the tax-deductible allowance for basic living expenses has increased.
Premier Su thanked labor and management for working to forge a consensus on raising the minimum wage. He also emphasized that the government will make every effort to take care of labor, and fully support vulnerable labor groups as well as young people who are just getting started in life. The government will also conduct follow-up discussions about how to aid industries that depend on domestic demand and have yet to fully recover from the pandemic so that labor and management can achieve mutual prosperity.
Sources: Executive Yuan
