Draft law to extend biotech industry incentives until 2021
According to the Economic Daily News, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) has approved a draft law that would extend tax incentives for the biotechnology industry until 2021. The draft law, entitled the "Statute for Biotechnology and New Medicine Industry Development", was proposed by the legislature and has received the endorsement of Premier Chang Chun-hsiung.
The bill fills in a gap left by the Statute for Upgrading Industries, which will end in 2009, effectively ending a number of investment incentive programs for various industries.
The new statute was conceived in response to the unique needs of the biotechnology industry, which requires a particularly high amount of funding. In drafting the new bill, biotechnology and new medicines were identified as "key industries" by the government following consultation over the past year with Academia Sinica, the Department of Health, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and the MOF.
Details of the bill include:
(1) Tax incentives will be available for R&D expenditures and personnel training, as well as deductions on corporate shareholder investments in the biotechnology and new medicines. Once a company in the biotechnology or new medicines industry clearly shows actual profits, that company may apply for tax incentives that will last up to five years.
(2) High-level professional and technical personnel in the biotechnology and new medicines industry will receive tax exemptions on income earned from shares, from the year they are issued until the shares are sold.
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