Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said yesterday the government did not have a timetable for implementing proposed taxes on gasoline, diesel, gas and other energy sources despite a consensus reached by the Cabinet’s Tax Reform Committee on Monday that the levies would take effect in 2011.
Wu told reporters on the legislative floor it was “not true” that the government would finalize the proposals this year, push the legislation next year and begin levying the taxes in 2011.
“The government will not levy new taxes or increase tax rates since the economy has not fully recovered, the employment market has not improved and the public is still having a hard time making a living,” Wu said.
He said the government would not impose the new taxes until there has been an “obvious” improvement in public livelihoods.
“The government feels the pain of the people,” he said.
The premier’s remarks were in contrast to the consensus reached by the committee, which said the reforms — aimed at improving energy conservation and reining in the nation’s carbon dioxide emissions — would be forwarded to the Cabinet and legislature and, if approved, take effect in 2011.
The task force proposed attaching an energy tax of NT$1.70 to each liter of oil products sold and recommended an extra NT$750 greenhouse gas tax for each tonne of carbon dioxide emissions.
If passed by the legislature, the energy tax would rise to NT$24.45 by the 10th year for gasoline and NT$21.71 for diesel — both taxes raising gasoline costs by NT$26.15 per liter, the committee’s report showed.
The energy and carbon taxes are expected to sap state coffers by NT$8 billion (US$247 million) in the first year because of support for subsidy programs, but generate NT$164.7 billion and NT$239 billion in tax revenues by the 10th year, the report said.
However, legislators across party lines criticized the committee’s proposal, saying it might be a blow to the public.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus deputy secretary-general Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) said discussion of the levy was out of the question until after the economy improves, while KMT Legislator Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) called the proposal “stupid.”
KMT Legislator Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) said if the government’s intention was to save energy, it should encourage development of renewable energy sources so that the public would have cheaper alternative sources of energy.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) said the government could only levy the taxes under two conditions: the president fulfilling his “6-3-3” campaign promise and the KMT administration “retaking” China.
The “6-3-3” promise refers to President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) pledge to raise annual GDP growth to 6 percent, lower unemployment to 3 percent by 2012 and increase GDP per capita to US$30,000..
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