The new Minister of Finance Ho Chih-chin (
"I will negotiate with the legislature to cancel the income tax exemptions for teachers and military personnel and push forward reforms on consumption taxes," he said during a press briefing on the first day of assuming office.
Formerly the head of the economics department at National Taiwan University, the 54-year-old Ho took over from Joseph Lyu (呂桔誠) yesterday. Lyu is now serving as a minister without portfolio after his five-month stint at the ministry.
Ho, an expert on tax and public economics, said Taiwan rarely reviewed its tax schemes, leading to a lot of duplication in tax exemptions and preferential treatments.
To promote fair taxation and boost efficiency, he vowed to introduce a better tax system from abroad and help achieve fiscal balance by 2011.
Regarding the much-debated inheritance and gift taxes, Ho said the maximum rate for inheritance and gift taxes should be lowered from the current 50 percent to 40 percent in the short term.
The government cannot afford to cancel both taxes as it has just stopped levying a capital-gains tax on income from stocks (
"If the inheritance and gift taxes are scrapped or their tax rates are reduced to a minimal level, there'd be no way to uphold social justice," he said.
In addition, the two taxes are the main revenue source for local governments, he said.
As for the controversial second-stage financial reform, Ho appeared more cautious, saying he would follow Premier Su Tseng-chang's (蘇貞
Declaring his resolution to serve the nation, Ho said he was determined to renounce his US citizenship and to resign from his teaching position at the university.
With a PhD in economics from the University of Michigan, Ho worked at the US Department of Justice and the US Department of the Treasury for 15 years before coming back to Taiwan in 2003.
RSS