Out of concern for consumer safety, the Ministry of Finance may seek to ban on sales of Taiwan Sugar Corp's (Taisugar,
Wang warned that Taisugar's DIY kit includes a highly flammable bottle of 85 proof alcohol, a safety risk to consumers who will mix the ingredients by themselves.
Regardless, the ministry hopes to stem what they apparently see as an attempt to evade taxes.
"Even if Taisugar's rice-wine kit is allowed to hit the market, the ministry will still levy a NT$24.75 per bottle rice-wine tax," Wang told the legislature's finance-committee meeting yesterday morning.
Taisugar officials introduced the DIY rice-wine kit on Monday and plan to launch the product nationwide on Dec. 20.
Wang's new tax proposal will increasd the cost of Taisugar's innovative product by NT$20 per bottle, bringing its retail price closer to Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor Co's (
If implemented, the tax will apply to copycat rice-wine kits, including the newly launched Kinka rice spirits (
Taisugar's product, to be offered at a retail price of NT$85 per bottle, includes 30ml of alcohol produced from molasses, 135ml of ethanol made from fermented rice and 435ml mineral water. By skirting the NT$90 WTO tax on a 0.6L bottle of rice wine, Taisugar's kit is only subject to an NT$11 tax per liter of alcohol, thus paying less than NT$6 per bottle in taxes.
Minister of Finance Lin Chuan (
In response to Wang's tax proposal, Taisugar Chairman Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁) yesterday vowed to take legal action against the ministry over the potential ban, or higher rice-wine taxes on its product.
Wu said Taisugar did its legal homework and concluded that its DIY rice-wine kit breaks no laws.
"Based on what laws can the ministry levy an NT$24.75 rice-wine tax on Taisugar?" Wu asked.
Taisugar officials yesterday insisted that the product does not endanger the public's safety.
But an economics professor at National Taiwan University, Wu Chung-chi (
"The government's department of health or some food safety agency should test whether Taisugar's product is highly flammable," Wu Chung-chi said.
The ministry should not jump to any conclusions without conducting adequate testing on the product, he said. He suggested that Taisugar put a warning label on the product and educate consumers on the mixing process before sales begin.
Wu Chung-chi, who is also honorary chairman at the Consumers' Foundation (
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