The Presidential Office went on the defensive yesterday over the tax reform proposals unveiled by President Chen Shui-bian (
Presidential Office Spokesman Chen Wen-tsung (
During a Cabinet economic meeting on Oct. 14, 2000, Chen said "during this four-year term I will not raise taxes."
"President Chen did not promise to not raise taxes during his second term in office," the spokesman said.
The proposals, made a day earlier by the president's Economic Advisory Panel, are intended to raise the average national tax rate from the current 13.6 percent to 15 percent over three years and eventually to 18 percent.
"The tax reform proposals are aimed at achieving fiscal balance," the spokesman added, noting that the president's instructions were in line with conclusions reached by the Economic Development Advisory Conference in 2001, which set a goal of balancing the budget in five to 10 years.
Stating that the panel's convener, former economic affairs minister Lin Hsin-yi (
Lee Yung-ping (李永萍), a whip from the People First Party (PFP) legislative caucus, yesterday said that her party agrees that changes are needed in the current tax system, but opposes any "unfair or unjust" tax hike.
Lee argued that the plan to raise the value added tax will further increase the tax burden on working individuals, while the plan to lower the inheritance and gift tax is inconsistent with the principles of justice and fairness.
Meanwhile, Lo Chih-ming (
The rise in business taxes will force businesses to transfer the costs to consumers, Lo said.
Lo said that since the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government came to power, it has advocated a number of projects funded by a special budget to bypass the ceiling set for the government's loans, which he said has caused the country's fiscal condition to deteriorate.
These projects include a NT$70 billion plan to improve flood control along the Keelung River, a NT$50 billion plan for the prevention and control of SARS, a NT$20 billion plan to expand employment, NT$500 billion for the 10 Major Construction Projects, a NT$100 billion relief fund for farmers suffering losses from agricultural imports and a NT$480 billion arms procurement package, Lo said.
Saying he will put forth a fiscal discipline law to restrict the government's move to incur debts and hike taxes, Lo urged the government to stop engaging in ostentatious development plans just to show off its political achievements.
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