The Ministry of Finance (MOF) yesterday published a list of individuals and major corporations that owe the government back taxes.
The Sunworld Dynasty Hotel (王朝大酒店) tops the list of corporations with an outstanding tax bill of NT$2.065 billion (US$65.55 million), while late business tycoon Huang Jen-chung (黃任中) and his son, Juang Juo-ku (黃若谷), owe taxes of NT$1.545 billion and NT$1.719 billion, respectively.
The MOF list contained 1,558 major cases worth a total of NT$130.8 billion.
The names of individuals and corporations owing more than NT$10 million and NT$50 million respectively have been posted on the Web sites of five national tax administrations under the MOF, where they will remain for a period of seven days.
This is the first time the ministry has published a list of major tax defaulters, but whether this encourages the payment of outstanding tax bills remains to be seen.
The Control Yuan, the nation’s highest watchdog, has criticized the government for inadequate attempts to retrieve outstanding taxes, saying that only 4.06 percent of outstanding tax debts were paid between 2001 and October last year.
Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) of the ruling Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said that outstanding taxes had increased to NT$313.8 billion as of the end of last year, representing 4.14 percent of actual tax revenues.
In late March the Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee passed a motion demanding the MOF instruct tax administrations to regularly publish lists of individuals and corporations who owe more than NT$10 million and NT$50 million.
The MOF said that the figure of 4.14 percent of unpaid taxes is not particularly large by international standards, adding that the level is around 7 percent in the US, between 7 percent and 8 percent in China, 5 percent in Hong Kong and more than 10 percent in Greece.
Most scholars supported the publication of the list.
Norman Yin (殷乃平) of National Chengchi University said it would have an “intimidating effect” and force tax defaulters to repay the money.
National Taiwan University’s Lee Hsien-fong (李顯峰) said that the government should focus on the major transgressors and only publish the names of individuals who owe more than NT$50 million and corporations that owe more than NT$100 million. Lee said this would be more effective in getting people to pay their outstanding taxes, as a list containing too many names would fail to have the desired impact.
Separately, the Taipei Revenue Service said on Friday that it has identified 9,850 households in the city that will be assessed as liable to pay a “luxury house tax,” a move that could increase their housing tax burden by as much as 320 percent.
Service Director Hsieh Sung-fang (謝松芳) said that the “luxury house tax” would be introduced in July next year, once the publicly assessed housing values of “luxury houses” have been adjusted upwards.
The publicly assessed housing value is an estimate of a house’s worth, not including the land, made by a public agency and is used to calculate housing tax. Taiwan does not assess taxes on land or houses based on actual transaction values.
Taipei City is expected to benefit to the tune of an additional NT$800 million in revenue from the increase when it begins collecting the tax in May 2012.
RISK REMAINS: An official said that with the US presidential elections so close, it is unclear if China would hold war games or keep its reaction to angry words The Ministry of National Defense said it was “on alert” as it detected a Chinese aircraft carrier group to Taiwan’s south yesterday amid concerns in Taiwan about the possibility of a new round of Chinese war games. The ministry said in a statement that a Chinese navy group led by the carrier Liaoning had entered waters near the Bashi Channel, which connects the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean and separates Taiwan from the Philippines. It said the carrier group was expected to enter the Western Pacific. The military is keeping a close watch on developments and “exercising an
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
REACTION TO LAI: A former US official said William Lai took a step toward stability with his National Day speech and the question was how Beijing would respond US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday warned China against taking any “provocative” action on Taiwan after Beijing’s reaction to President William Lai’s (賴清德) speech on Double Ten National Day on Thursday. Blinken, speaking in Laos after an ASEAN East Asia Summit, called the speech by Lai, in which he vowed to “resist annexation,” a “regular exercise.” “China should not use it in any fashion as a pretext for provocative actions,” Blinken told reporters. “On the contrary, we want to reinforce — and many other countries want to reinforce — the imperative of preserving the status quo, and neither party taking any
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that China has “no right to represent Taiwan,” but stressed that the nation was willing to work with Beijing on issues of mutual interest. “The Republic of China has already put down roots in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu,” Lai said in his first Double Ten National Day address outside the Presidential Office Building in Taipei. “And the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China [PRC] are not subordinate to each other.” “The People’s Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan,” he said at the event marking the 113th National Day of
RSS