The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) launched an online petition yesterday to compel the government to extend the deadline for filing individual income tax returns from May 31 to the date when the central government's budget for this year will clear the legislature.
The launch of the campaign followed a relay sit-in initiated by the TSU on May 3 in front of the legislature to push for an early passage of the budget, which should have been passed by the legislature during its previous session.
The legislature's delay in approving the budget has hindered the implementation of several major national development projects, triggering a decline in the economic growth rate, a TSU official said, adding that under these circumstances, the public has the right to refuse paying income taxes.
The official said that since May 1, the government has urged the public to file their individual income tax returns for last year as early as possible, but has not informed taxpayers that the government's budget has not cleared the legislature.
Claiming it was "illegitimate and unconstitutional" for the government to levy income taxes while the budget plan for this year remains dormant in the legislature, the official called upon the public to sign the petition at www.tsu.org.tw.
The official said that the TSU would forward the petition to the legislature, the Executive Yuan, the Control Yuan and the headquarters of both the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to communicate the public's anger.
Under the nation's Budget Law (
However, it has been delayed for more than five months because of a dispute over a KMT-drafted amendment bill on the organization of the Central Election Commission, under which its members would be recommended by political parties in proportion to the number of seats they hold in the legislature, a motion opposed by the DPP.
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