The Alliance for Fair Tax Reform (AFTR) yesterday challenged the General Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of China (ROCCOC) and the Chinese National Federation of Industries (CNFI) — both advocates of a tax reform that the alliance considers unfair — to a public debate.
“Large corporations have been advocating tax cuts, saying that tax cuts would save their businesses and help them invest more to turnaround the economy,” alliance convener Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋) told reporters outside the building in Taipei where the ROCCOC and CNFI headquarters are located, while delivering an invitation to the debate to the two organizations.
“A bill to reduce the inheritance tax to 10 percent has already passed [the initial review] in the legislature,” Wang said. “But have these business leaders made any concrete investment plans?”
The tax laws state that inheritance tax may be as much as 50 percent of the value of inherited assets.
Lin Lu-hung (林綠紅), a member of Taiwan Women’s Link, voiced her concern that the tax breaks would result in a cut in welfare spending.
“Since President Ma Ying-jeou [馬英九] took office on May 20, the government has introduced several tax break programs that will lead to a NT$120 billion [US$3.5 billion] loss in annual tax revenues,” Lin said. “I don’t know how this gap will be filled, but this will certainly impact on the government’s welfare spending.”
Chen Poh-chien (陳柏謙), from Youth Labor Union 95, expressed concern that the revenue gap would worsen the national debt, “which we, the younger generation, will have to shoulder in the future.”
AFTR figures show that the national debt has reached NT$13.8 trillion, while the Ministry of Finance’s figures released last month showed only a NT$4.3 billion debt.
“We would like to invite the ROCCOC and CNFI to debate with us in public,” Wang said. “Tell us how much money you’re making, how much tax you’re paying and whether you’re paying the same taxes as ordinary wage earners.”
Representatives from the two business groups accepted the invitations, but the two groups are not likely to join any debate.
“We won’t do anything about it [the invitation],” a high-ranking ROCCOC official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Taipei Times by telephone.
“If they have something to say about tax reform they should tell the Tax Reform Commission — after all, it’s the government, not us, that will make the final decision,” the official said.
A CNFI spokesman surnamed Liu said the group respected everybody’s right to comment on the issue, but “would not likely take part” in the debate, as the group has no decision-making powers.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday condemned Chinese and Russian authorities for escalating regional tensions, citing Chinese warplanes crossing the Taiwan Strait’s median line and joint China-Russia military activities breaching South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) over the past two days. A total of 30 Chinese warplanes crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Thursday and Friday, entering Taiwan’s northern and southwestern airspace in coordination with 15 naval vessels and three high-altitude balloons, the MAC said in a statement. The Chinese military also carried out another “joint combat readiness patrol” targeting Taiwan on Thursday evening, the MAC said. On
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday confirmed that Chinese students visiting Taiwan at the invitation of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation were almost all affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). During yesterday’s meeting convened by the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) asked whether the visit was a way to spread China’s so-called “united front” rhetoric, to which MAC Deputy Ministry Shen You-chung (沈有忠) responded with the CCP comment. The MAC noticed that the Chinese individuals visiting Taiwan, including those in sports, education, or religion, have had increasingly impressive backgrounds, demonstrating that the
MILITARY EXERCISES: China is expected to conduct more drills in the region after President William Lai’s office announced he would stopover in Hawaii and Guam China is likely to launch military drills in the coming days near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming trip to the Pacific and scheduled US transit as a pretext, regional security officials said. Lai is to begin a visit to Taipei’s three diplomatic allies in the Pacific on Saturday, and sources told Reuters he was planning stops in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam in a sensitive trip shortly after the US presidential election. Lai’s office has yet to confirm details of what are officially “stop-overs” in the US, but is expected to do so shortly before he departs, sources
Tasa Meng Corp (采盟), which runs Taiwan Duty Free, could be fined up to NT$1 million (US$30,737) after the owner and employees took center stage in a photograph with government officials and the returning Premier12 baseball champions at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Monday evening. When Taiwan’s national baseball team arrived home fresh from their World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 championship victory in Tokyo, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) was at the airport with Chinese Professional Baseball League commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) to welcome back the team. However, after Hsiao and Tsai took a photograph with the team, Tasa Meng chairwoman Ku
RSS