The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said that President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) pledge to issue NT$50 billion (US$1.6 billion) in tax returns was a politically motivated policy geared toward her re-election bid in 2020, as the policy seems at odds with her administration’s stance that the nation’s finances are suffering.
Tsai unveiled the plan on Tuesday during her first-ever New Year’s Day address at the Presidential Office Building.
Tax revenue from the past two years had exceeded the government’s expectations on the back of a healthy economy, she said, adding that people earning a lower income would be prioritized for the proposed tax returns.
Photo: Chen Yun, Taipei Times
The government’s less-than-ideal financial situation was the reason Tsai gave when pushing through pension reforms for civil servants, public-school teachers and military personnel, KMT caucus secretary-general William Tseng (曾銘宗) said at a news conference at the legislature in Taipei, adding that her tax pledge seemed to contradict her earlier statement.
Tsai’s pledge was politically motivated and aimed at bolstering her weak approval rating, to pave the way for her re-election bid in 2020, Tseng said.
The policy is generous at the expense of making future generations even more indebted, he said.
The government’s unfunded liabilities are NT$17 trillion, or about NT$227,000 per capita, he said, citing Ministry of Finance data, as he called on Tsai not to make promises she should not.
KMT Legislator Alex Fai (費鴻泰) said government agencies have been understating their tax revenues while overstating their expenses to reduce red tape in administrative procedures.
The “excess tax revenue” is not really excess, but a result of this practice, he said.
The government has debts totaling NT$233.8 billion that have rolled over from last year, while its borrowing ceiling is set at NT$220 billion, he said, asking where the “excess tax revenue” came from.
Tsai should instead have pushed through a policy to implement personal income tax deductions for families paying for long-term care services before making the pledge, KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said.
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