The Taiwan High Court found independent legislator and former township chief Liao Hsueh-kuang (
Liao, a former township chief for Hsichih (汐止) in Taipei County, had previously been given an 18-year sentence for levying the so-called "township chief tax" against local companies six years ago.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Liao levied the tax during his term between 1990 and 1993, and was the first township chief to charge the assessment.
According to Tsai Kuang-chih (蔡光治), the ruling judge in the case, some 267 private companies and more than 400 venders at local night markets paid the "township chief tax." Total receipts, he said, "were as high as NT$220 billion."
According to government regulations, all construction companies need to obtain a local township's permission before applying for a construction license from a city or county government.
In order to boost the township's revenues, Liao created a special "community development fund" (
Tsai said yesterday, that in the absence of a better local tax regulation, it was reasonable and acceptable for Hsichih to create a community development fund.
"How can local chiefs develop their communities when they lack necessary administrative powers like these?" Tsai said.
Lee Hsiang-chu (李相助), the presiding judge in the appeals case, said yesterday that, according to Taiwan's construction laws, it was reasonable for firms to pay compensation for damage resulting from construction work.
In addition, both Lee and Tsai said, Liao never put the collected tax into his own pocket -- a fact that favored the lawmaker.
In response to the judges' decision, Liao -- who had been suspended from his township post because of the case and was later elected to the legislature -- said yesterday that he was delighted by the judgement. "I have been tortured by the case for too long," he said.
Liao also said yesterday that he would run in the legislative election at the end of the year.
Liao's wife, Chou Li-mei (周麗美), was elected as township chief for Hsichih after Liao stepped down.
Meanwhile, Liao said yesterday's ruling was a victory for other local government chiefs who are also being prosecuted for charging development fees to local businesses in order to fill local coffers.
Other targeted local government heads include Liao Pen-yen (
Hsinchu Mayor Tsai Jen-chien (
Prosecutors who brought the case against Liao said yesterday that they were unsure whether to appeal yesterday's verdict to the Supreme Court.
CREDIT-GRABBER: China said its coast guard rescued the crew of a fishing vessel that caught fire, who were actually rescued by a nearby Taiwanese boat and the CGA Maritime search and rescue operations do not have borders, and China should not use a shipwreck to infringe upon Taiwanese sovereignty, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The coast guard made the statement in response to the China Coast Guard (CCG) saying it saved a Taiwanese fishing boat. The Chuan Yu No. 6 (全漁6號), a fishing vessel registered in Keelung, on Thursday caught fire and sank in waters northeast of Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台). The vessel left Keelung’s Badouzih Fishing Harbor (八斗子漁港) at 3:35pm on Sunday last week, with seven people on board — a 62-year-old Taiwanese captain surnamed Chang (張) and six
RISKY BUSINESS: The ‘incentives’ include initiatives that get suspended for no reason, creating uncertainty and resulting in considerable losses for Taiwanese, the MAC said China’s “incentives” failed to sway sentiment in Taiwan, as willingness to work in China hit a record low of 1.6 percent, a Ministry of Labor survey showed. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) also reported that the number of Taiwanese workers in China has nearly halved from a peak of 430,000 in 2012 to an estimated 231,000 in 2024. That marked a new low in the proportion of Taiwanese going abroad to work. The ministry’s annual survey on “Labor Life and Employment Status” includes questions respondents’ willingness to seek employment overseas. Willingness to work in China has steadily declined from
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
RSS