Premier Yu Shyi-kun yesterday instructed government agencies to study the feasibility of a rice wine tax cut under the framework of the WTO to help tackle the problem of liquor bootleggers.
Yu said in an Executive Yuan floor meeting that the core of the bootlegging problem lies in the high profits obtained by the producers of fake liquor which is much cheaper than legitimate brands.
To address the problem, the premier asked the ministries of finance and economic affairs to study measures to cut the rice wine tax and amend related liquor tax regulations under the WTO framework.
Saying that the government's top priority is to protect the lives and safety of its people, Yu said the fake liquor, which sometimes is made from industrial alcohol to cut costs, has caused illness and even death.
Local reports have put the number of deaths due to drinking bootleg rice wine at more than 10 in the past few weeks alone, prompting the government to offer free testing of liquor to the public.
Yu noted that rice wine is a cooking staple and that the problem has caused serious inconvenience to the public and endangered their lives.
Meanwhile, Minister of Eco-nomic Affairs Lin Yi-fu (
Vice Minister of Finance S.L. Chang (
To facilitate the entry into the WTO, the government agreed to scrap its monopoly tax and set a WTO-stipulated tax on rice wine. Rice wine is listed under the category of distilled liquor, taxed at NT$150 (US$4.3) per liter for the first year of WTO membership and NT$185 per liter in the second year.
Chang said that the ministry hopes that the rice wine can be taxed not on quantity but on price, with any tax not exceeding half of its selling price.
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