Cabinet OKs senior farmer allowance hike to NT$10,000

Taipei, Jan. 15 (CNA) The Cabinet on Thursday approved draft amendments that would raise the monthly allowance for senior farmers to NT$10,000 (US$316), a move expected to benefit more than 530,000 people.

The amendments to the Provisional Act Governing Welfare Allowances for Senior Farmers will increase the benefit from the current NT$8,110 per month in response to rising living costs. The bill will be submitted to the Legislative Yuan for review, according to the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA).

The draft bill introduces a new review mechanism to better reflect inflation. While the allowance is currently adjusted once every four years based on consumer price index (CPI) growth, the MOA said the low base has limited the impact of past increases.

Under the proposed system, a review would be triggered if cumulative CPI growth reaches 3 percent within two years after a regular adjustment.

The amendments also propose loosening eligibility thresholds under the program's means-testing rules, which have remained unchanged for more than 13 years despite rising prices and asset values.

Under the draft, the ceiling for non-agricultural taxable income would be raised from NT$500,000 to NT$600,000, while the cap on the assessed value of land and housing owned by an applicant would increase from NT$5 million to NT$10.25 million.

The proposal also removes the upper limit on deductions for an applicant's sole self-occupied residence to prevent exclusion due to housing needs.

The MOA estimates the NT$1,890 monthly increase will require an additional NT$12 billion in annual government spending, based on about 529,000 eligible recipients as of October last year.

Changes to the eligibility thresholds will bring an estimated 7,600 more people into the program, adding around NT$900 million, for a total budget increase of roughly NT$12.9 billion, the MOA added.

Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) noted during a Cabinet meeting the changes require a supplementary budget, which can only be processed after this year's central government budget is finalized, and urged the Legislature to lend its support.

Lawmakers across party lines have proposed even higher increases, with some ruling Democratic Progressive Party legislators calling for NT$12,000 per month and the opposition Kuomintang suggesting NT$15,000.

Government officials have cautioned that each NT$1,000 increase adds more than NT$6.3 billion in annual expenditures.

Taiwan launched its senior farmer allowance program in 1995. Farmers aged 65 or older who have been enrolled in farmers' insurance for at least 15 years are eligible for the monthly benefit, which was initially set at NT$3,000 and raised to NT$7,000 in 2011. The allowance was last adjusted to NT$8,110 in 2024 following a four-year CPI-based review.