TSU legislators yesterday pressed the Ministry of Finance to explain why PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) was allowed to leave the country given that he allegedly owes about NT$700 million in overdue taxes.
"According to our estimates, based on information from the Control Yuan on the Chung Hsing Bills Finance case, Soong owes overdue taxes of approximately NT$700 million for 1992 to 1999," TSU legislative leader Chien Lin Whei-jun (錢林慧君) said at a press conference yesterday.
The TSU caucus had invited Minister of Finance Lin Chuan (
"Normally individuals are banned from leaving the country if they have overdue taxes of over NT$500,000. Why is Soong still free to go abroad even though he has an overdue tax bill of approximately NT$700 million?" Chien Lin said, referring to Soong's visit to Japan last week.
Soong flew to Fukuoka from Taipei last Wednesday to attend a baseball game at the invitation of Daiei Hawks manager Sadaharu Oh. During his stay, Soong met with Yokohama Mayor Hiroshi Nakada and addressed a gathering of PFP supporters in Tokyo.
Soong will visit Lower House Speaker Tamisuke Watanuki and other Japanese political leaders before returning to Taipei tomorrow.
Chien Lin said that it was only late last month that the Ministry of Finance's Department of Taxation had completed sending out all overdue tax notices concerning Soong.
Questioning the delay as well as Soong's trip abroad, Chien Lin accused the Department of Taxation of covering up Soong's tax bill and claimed that the TSU would launch a petition to form a task force to probe the overdue taxes.
PFP legislative leader Chung Shao-ho (
Chung said that the issue of Soong's overdue tax regarding the Chung Hsing Bills Finance case is before the courts and urged critics to wait for its outcome.
Chung added that Soong's visit to Japan is legitimate as the PFP chairman has provided the guarantees required for such a trip.
Saying the ministry has the responsibility to keep taxpayers' information confidential, Chung asked TSU legislators to divulge the sources behind their charges.
"It is against the law to leak a taxpayer's information," he said. "If the TSU can't clearly state the source of its information, then the TSU should apologize to Soong for making up the story," he said.
In the Chung Hsing Bills Finance case, which was uncovered in 1999 during the run-up to the 2000 presidential election, Soong was alleged to have embezzled funds from his former party, the KMT.
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