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Justice ministry to crack down on tax evasion next month

The Ministry of Justice yesterday said that it would start cracking down next month on those who have accumulated large tax debts.

"Major tax evaders are those individuals who have evaded payment of more than NT$10 million in personal income tax or companies which have evaded payment of over NT$100 million in business tax," said Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南).

"We have to do something to demonstrate the government's authority. I must reiterate, tax dodgers simply cannot be allowed to avoid their tax dues," he said.

The ministry's Administrative Law Enforcement Service will begin sending official warnings to individuals and companies with outstanding tax debts.

According to the agency, the ministry's action will target individuals who have been dodging taxes or fines for a long time, as well as people who evade taxes by fraudulently claiming to have sold property or gone bankrupt.

The agency said that a special task force has been established to carry out this priority mission.

It said that violators who ignored the ministry's warning to pay up would be dealt with promptly.

The special task force officials will be empowered to close and confiscate properties and business operations and apply for court orders to detain offenders or prevent them from traveling abroad.

The agency said that lawyers and accountants who are discovered to have helped tax evaders would also be prosecuted according to the law.

A judge at Taipei District Court's civil courts, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, "Taiwan's criminal justice system rarely jails convicted tax evaders. Its primary concern is to ensure that tax dues are paid, not that offenders are punished.

"Tax evaders know that the worst-case scenario is jail, but even when they've finished a jail term, they still can't be forced to pay," he said.
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