After many twists and turns, the Executive Yuan finally passed a draft legal amendment Thursday that, if approved by the legislature, will cancel the decades-old income tax exemption for grassroots school teachers and military personnel. The Executive Yuan passed the draft amendment to the Income Tax Law at a weekly Cabinet meeting. If the draft package clears the legislative floor, the amended law will be put into force at the beginning of next year, Government Information Office Minister Su Jun-pin said at a news conference held after the meeting. Su called on the ruling Kuomintang-controlled Legislative Yuan to approve the draft as soon as possible. According to Su, the law revision will affect some 350,000 people, including the country's active duty military personnel and teachers at day care centers and kindergartens, as well as at public and private elementary and junior high schools. Speaking on the same occasion, Minister of Finance Lee Sush-der said the national coffers will receive an estimated NT$16 billion (US$487.8 million) in increased tax revenues annually as a result of the revisions. He added that the increased tax revenues in the first year will all be returned to the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of National Defense for various projects to improve welfare services for school faculty members and military personnel. In the future, however, the national coffers will gradually benefit from the annulment of the tax exemption privileges, he said. 