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TSU chairman Huang leads sit-in over budget

Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Chairman Huang Kun-hui, third right, and supporters yesterday stage a sit-in protest in front of the Legislative Yuan calling on the public not to pay taxes before the government's annual budget is passed. The signs read ``Defer tax payments.'' PHOTO: WANG YI-SUNG, TAIPEI TIMES

Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝), joined by some 50 TSU legislators, party officials and supporters, staged a sit-in at the front gates of the legislature yesterday to protest the impasse over this year's government fiscal budget bill.

"The budget bill has been stalled in the legislature for 154 days," Huang told an outdoor press conference. "Our economic growth has dropped 0.64 percent during this time and new development projects costing up to NT$74.6 billion (US$2.2 billion) have been prevented from commencing because of this."

"The impasse of the budget bill has had a negative impact on the nation's public construction and who is going to take the responsibility for this?" he asked.

The Budget Act (預算法) stipulates that the budget request must be passed by the legislature at least one month before the end of their fiscal year and be promulgated by the president 15 days before that.

The delay relates to a heated debate between lawmakers over a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-proposed bill which would see the Central Election Commission (CEC) reorganized to give it a pan-blue majority.

The TSU also launched a campaign to urge the Ministry of Economic Affairs to postpone the deadline for people to file reports on their liable taxation until the budget bill is passed.

"The fiscal budget seems to be distant from people's daily life, but actually it isn't. The majority of the state's annual revenue comes from the taxes people pay," Huang said.

Citing government statistics, he said 73.89 percent of the revenue comes from taxation, 52.6 percent of which derives from income tax.

"The government has asked the people to start reporting their income tax on Tuesday, but is this requirement legitimate and constitutional given the 2007 fiscal budget bill remains stuck?" he asked.

Citizens must file their taxes by May 31.

The tax authority levies tax based on government budget bills, he said, and since this year's budget bill has not been passed, "the people have the right to refuse to report their income tax."

The TSU's press liaison officer Chess Wu (吳嘉琦) said the sit-in would continue until the budget bill was passed, with TSU legislators and officials sharing two shifts 12 hour shifts everyday.
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