In an effort to increase the financial transparency of nonprofit organizations, the Ministry of the Interior plans to push for amendments to regulations requiring such groups to publish their financial statements.
A ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that only a small proportion of the nation’s 62,985 registered nonprofit organizations, including 50,903 social groups, 5,254 occupational groups and 6,828 community development associations, have made their financial statements public.
It is estimated that at least two-thirds of the nation’s nonprofit organizations have yet to disclose their financial statements online, which means that if the planned amendment is passed, more than 42,000 non-profit groups would have to provide the information, the official said.
The official said the planned regulations would also apply to nonprofit organizations with close ties to political parties, such as the Republic of China Unity and Self-strengthening Association, the Council for Industrial and Commercial Development and the pro-independence Northern Taiwan Society.
Cooperative and Civil Associations Preparatory Office deputy director Chen Chih-chang (陳志章) said accountability is the core value of nonprofit organizations, because it determines whether the public would trust them.
“Financial transparency should be the most basic requirement of a nonprofit organization. The more transparent its financial situations is, the more support and donations it would receive,” Chen said.
According to the Regulations on Disposal of the Financial Affairs of Social Associations (社會團體財務處理辦法), social groups are required to file budget sheets to the ministry, but they are not obliged to publish the documents online.
The ministry official said the ministry is to draw up an amendment of the regulations to require nonprofit organizations to not only disclose their financial statements online, but also to have an accountant provide attestation should the accounts exceed a certain amount.
The ministry’s plan comes at a time when the financial situation of the National Women’s League of the Republic of China — a registered political group deemed as a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) peripheral organization — has been called into question.
A group associated with a political party is allowed to choose whether it registers with the ministry as a social or occupational group, but since the league has yet to do so, it would not be covered by the planned amendment.
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