The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday threatened to push through a controversial draft act on innovative industries today despite calls from tax reform advocates to halt review of the bill.
KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) said that if the KMT and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucuses failed to reach agreement in cross-party negotiations today, he would mobilize KMT lawmakers to call for a vote on every article of the proposed bill, which would relax restrictions on the establishment of industrial parks or zones.
“If the DPP decides to boycott the draft act on innovative industries (產業創新條例), we will deal with it in accordance with legislative procedures in order to live up to the expectations of the public and local industries, meaning deliberating and voting on every article in the bill,” Lin said.
Lin said the caucus would discipline any KMT lawmaker who failed to show up and support the proposal on the legislative floor.
Review of the bill has been brought to a standstill because governing and opposition lawmakers have so far failed to see eye to eye on the business income tax rates stipulated in the draft.
The bill initiated by the Executive Yuan, which will head today's agenda on the legislative floor, proposes that the business income tax rate for corporations that establish operational headquarters in Taiwan should be maintained at 20 percent, with tax breaks provided for innovation and investment income.
The bill is meant as an extension of the Act for Industrial Upgrading (促進產業升級條例), which expired at the end of last year, and aims to encourage businesses to invest in innovation, research and development.
The DPP caucus proposed on March 26 that the business income tax rate should be cut to 17.5 percent and applied to all businesses.
The government opposed the proposal, saying it would lead to a shortfall of NT$40.3 billion (US$1.3 billion) in annual tax revenues.
DPP caucus whip Lee Chun-yee (李俊毅) urged the KMT caucus, which dominates the legislature, to negotiate the details of the proposed bill rather than ram it through.
At a press conference yesterday morning, tax reform activists urged the legislature to review the bill again “before it is too late.”
Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), convener of the Fairtax Alliance and a former DPP legislator, said the bill, if passed, would fail to establish a fair tax system and could only benefit big corporations.
Thomas Chan (詹順貴), a representative of the Taiwan Rural Front, said Article 10 is the most controversial. Under that proposed article, Chan said, any government agency, public enterprise or private individual could apply to develop and run an industrial park so long as they produce a development plan. The government will help acquire the land — even state-owned tracts of land, he added.
“The bill is poised to allow big business conglomerates to steal land from disadvantaged people through a land expropriation program,” he said.
“[The government] has granted tax breaks equaling NT$14.8 billion every year, creating many big corporations and widening the gap between the rich and the poor,” he said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard