Finance minister pledges to implement tax reforms

Minister of Finance Lin Chuan (林全) yesterday said the government would pull out all the stops to push forward tax reforms. If he achieved nothing in revamping the nation's tax system, Lin said, he would step down in May or June next year.

"Give me one more year to seek a sense of accomplishment," Lin said at a press conference yesterday. "There will be no point for me to stay on in the post, if nothing can be done."

This would allow his successor to have at least two years to work before President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) tenure ends in 2008.

Showing no intention of lingering on his post but resolving to "doing something important," Lin said he might even resign if the Cabinet undergoes a reshuffle.

Last week, Lin said the ministry is proposing to levy a capital-gains tax on institutional and corporate investors as part of the government's planned "minimum tax" plan.

Yesterday morning, Lin also said the ministry has plans to terminate the tax-exemption status currently enjoyed by the nation's primary and junior high school teachers as well as military personnel, but his plan was opposed by lawmakers.

His remarks on capital-gains taxes, however, invited some comment among business circle.

During a breakfast meeting with a business group yesterday morning, he said that the proposed minimum tax on companies will be the lowest in the world, and whether to include the proposed capital-gains tax on institutional and corporate investors on their stock investmens is yet to be finalized.

"Lin promised that the minimum tax rates will be the lowest compared with other countries, and the ministry will discuss the issue with legal and financial experts before setting the final rates, as well as using the rates levied by neighboring countries as a reference," said Theodore Huang (黃茂雄), chairman of the Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce (工商協進會).