Led by the Alliance for Fair Tax Reform (AFTR), thousands of people took to the streets yesterday to show their opposition to government tax cuts, which they believe only benefit the rich.
“We had a cut in the securities exchange transaction tax earlier this year, and now the big corporations are pushing for a cut in the inheritance tax and an extension of the Statute for Upgrading Industries [促進產業升級條例],” AFTR spokesman Chien Hsi-chieh told the demonstrators at Liberty Square before the march began.
The statute, first adopted in 1990, was designed to boost the economy by giving favorable treatment such as tax breaks to selected industries or businesses choosing to invest in selected areas.
PHOTO: CHIEN JUNG-FENG, TAIPEI TIMES
As the statute is supposed to expire next year, business lobbyist groups are pushing for its extension.
“Business leaders always tell us that tax breaks would help them prosper, and in turn, they would be paying more tax,” Chien said. “Decades have passed since we first had tax breaks favoring the corporations and we’ve yet to see any increase in tax revenue.”
“No tax breaks for the rich” and “we want a fair tax reform,” the crowd shouted as they marched through Taipei streets.
Confederation of Taipei Trade Unions executive director Chou Chia-chun (周佳君) agreed.
“According to figures released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs [in 2005], eight of the top 40 richest people in Taiwan did not pay a cent in taxes — while we the ordinary wage-earners are shouldering more than 70 percent of the tax burden,” Chou said.
“The government should collect more tax from the rich and lift a little bit of the tax burden off the laborers,” she said.
Garden of Hope Foundation executive director Chi Hui-jung (紀惠容) voiced concern that unfair tax cuts would only widen the gap between the rich and the poor.
“As a result, more people will need to depend on the social welfare system, but I don’t know where the government will get the money as it’s already deep in debt after all the tax cuts,” Chi said.
The parade stopped as it passed by the Legislative Yuan and released a list of 13 lawmakers across party lines who strongly support what they consider “unfair tax reform” plans.
The legislators on the list included: Chen Chieh (陳杰), Lin Te-fu (林德福), Pan Wei-kang (潘維剛), Hsueh Ling (薛凌), Lee Chun-yee (李俊毅), Wang Sing-nan (王幸男), Chen Ken-te (陳根德), Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾), Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆), Chang Chia-chun (張嘉郡), Sun Ta-chien (孫大千), Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) and Ting Shou-chung (丁守中).
Youth Labor Union 95 spokesman Chen Poh-chien (陳柏謙) urged voters to boycott the lawmakers on the list in the next legislative election.
The demonstrators marched peacefully to Ketagalan Blvd in front of the Presidential Office, where alliance convener Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋) called on President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to oppose unfair tax reforms and remove Minister of Finance Lee Sush-der (李述德).
Taiwanese scientists have engineered plants that can capture about 50 percent more carbon dioxide and produce more than twice as many seeds as unmodified plants, a breakthrough they hope could one day help mitigate global warming and grow more food staples such as rice. If applied to major food crops, the new system could cut carbon emissions and raise yields “without additional equipment or labor costs,” Academia Sinica researcher and lead author the study Lu Kuan-jen (呂冠箴) said. Academia Sinica president James Liao (廖俊智) said that as humans emit 9.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide compared with the 220 billion tonnes absorbed
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
Taipei is to implement widespread road closures around Taipei 101 on Friday to make way for large crowds during the Double Ten National Day celebration, the Taipei Department of Transportation said. A four-minute fireworks display is to be launched from the skyscraper, along with a performance by 500 drones flying in formation above the nearby Nanshan A21 site, starting at 10pm. Vehicle restrictions would occur in phases, they said. From 5pm to 9pm, inner lanes of Songshou Road between Taipei City Hall and Taipei 101 are to be closed, with only the outer lanes remaining open. Between 9pm and 9:40pm, the section is
China’s plan to deploy a new hypersonic ballistic missile at a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) base near Taiwan likely targets US airbases and ships in the western Pacific, but it would also present new threats to Taiwan, defense experts said. The New York Times — citing a US Department of Defense report from last year on China’s military power — on Monday reported in an article titled “The missiles threatening Taiwan” that China has stockpiled 3,500 missiles, 1.5 times more than four years earlier. Although it is unclear how many of those missiles were targeting Taiwan, the newspaper reported
RSS