The National Taxation Bureau denied “deliberate targeting” of Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) in a probe into whether money he had received from his parents had been a loan or a gift.
On Monday, former Democratic Progressive Party Tainan councilor Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said that Ko’s parents had been summoned by the bureau for questioning about NT$10 million (US$314,000) they allegedly lent to Ko.
According to the bureau, which has asked Ko’s parents to provide a loan receipt, the money would have to be taxed if it was a gift.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The bureau’s move has been castigated by netizens and politicians, who have called the action politically motivated and a deliberate targeting of the mayor.
Yesterday, People First Party Deputy Secretary-General Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) slammed the bureau, asking why the agency has not taken such action against the “[Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT)] top echelons.”
“It is understandable that the government needs to undertake tax investigations to support the country’s finances and to ensure tax fairness, but this has to be applied to politicians from both the pan-green and pan-blue camps,” Liu said on Facebook.
Calling the move “politically motivated,” DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said the bureau is engaging in fault-finding, as receipts are rare for family loans.
“Since both the father who lent the money and the son who borrowed it say it was a loan, the bureau is picking on them by asking for clarification over whether it was a gift or a loan,” Tsai said.
KMT Taipei City Councilor Lee Hsin (李新) said that the probe shows a lack of social understanding, as private mortgage and property bestowal among kin is common.
DPP Taipei City Councilor Wang Shih-chien (王世堅) said: “The bureau has turned a blind eye to large businesses, but acts like a penny-pincher with average citizens,” adding that Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), showed proof that Ko wired interest payments to his father.
Netizens have also questioned the bureau, saying that, according to media coverage based on official documents, both New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) and former KMT Taipei mayoral candidate Sean Lien’s (連勝文) underage children have properties amounting to millions of New Taiwan dollars in their names. They urged the bureau to probe those cases as well.
Ko also weighed in.
“If the bureau has suddenly become so assiduous and efficient, why do I not see any action being taken by the agency against Lien, who has been reported by [radio personality] Clara Chou (周玉蔻) and many others?” he asked.
Chou, who raised concerns about Lien before last year’s Nov. 29 elections, said on Facebook that she has not received any official response to her report so far.
The bureau denied the probe was politically motivated, saying that it was undertaken in response to reports made by the public.
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