Politics

Legislature passes law on culture and creativity

COA Minister Emile Sheng (third left) expresses gratitude for legislators’ support following the passage of the act on culture and creativity. (CNA)

• Publication Date：01/08/2010
• Source： United Daily News

The Legislative Yuan passed the Cultural Creativity Act Jan. 8, requiring the government to promote the development of the arts through tax rebates, discounts and subsidies.

Work on finalizing the act took seven years. In the process, the Ministry of Finance vetoed a proposal by people in cultural circles for personal tax deductions of up to NT$12,000 (US$375.61) for arts expenditures.

In its place, the Council for Cultural Affairs succeeded in including a requirement that the government issue arts vouchers to students and compensate artists and arts groups who offer discount tickets.

The arts voucher, originally planned for elementary and junior high school students, will also be extended to senior high school and university students, according to the results of legislative negotiations. CCA Minister Emile Sheng said the measure could be implemented as early as 2011.

According to the act, the government will encourage the cultural and creative industries to offer favorable prices for their products and services by covering the price difference between the discounted price and the regular price. This measure will be implemented in stages, with local performance arts groups to be the first to benefit from it.

The act states that businesses will be able to claim tax deductions for purchasing tickets to domestic arts productions or services. This write-off will be capped at NT$10 million or 10 percent of a firm’s annual turnover.

The corporate tax deduction will also cover expenditures on cultural activities businesses hold for people in remote areas, donations to students or disadvantaged groups for cultural purposes and investments in cultural and creative enterprises establishing incubation centers. Expenses for investment in cultural research and development, as well as personnel training, will also be eligible for tax benefits.

In addition, the act allows the central government to rent public venues to cultural groups and enterprises irrespective of any restrictions set by the National Property Act or local governments.

The government must also set up a cultural and creative industry research institute based on the model of the country’s Industrial Technology Research Institute.

An “orphan clause” to the new law permits users of intellectual property who have exhausted all means but failed to locate the copyright holder to use the work after depositing a compensation fee with relevant authorities.

Sheng said up to 13 laws and regulations supplementing the new act need to be drawn up. He expected them to be passed by the end of June for the act to take effect in time. (PCT-THN)