Taiwan's legislature approved changes to its industrial innovation law, giving startups more time to raise money and letting companies defer more tax on employee stock awards — good news for young firms and for workers paid in shares.

• Venture funds now get a longer runway to deploy money into startups, with looser year-by-year investment targets and a new sixth-year milestone.
• A startup now counts as "new" for up to eight years instead of five, so angel investors keep their tax break for longer.
• The tax-deferral cap on employee stock awards doubles, a limit that had not moved in over a decade.
• Foreign companies operating in Taiwan through subsidiaries or branches now qualify more easily, giving venture funds more flexibility.

Outlook: The economics ministry will work with the finance ministry to rewrite the supporting rules, with the bigger stock-award break taking effect at the start of 2027.