Many small and medium enterprises, as well as small hospitals, have said that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration is discouraging them from supporting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidates by threatening them with tax audits, DPP caucus secretary-general Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠) said on Sunday.
The Ma administration is fomenting another era of political terror, Wong said, adding that a number of hospitals had asked DPP representatives to ask on their behalf about certain taxation items they felt are unreasonable.
However, those inquiries resulted in even heavier taxation, Wong said.
Some corporations even had their taxes inspected because they had donated to the DPP and the inspections continued until they stopped donating to the DPP or the party’s candidates, Wong said.
The Ma administration is cutting taxes for the rich, but the government’s tax revenue is severely lacking, so they are focusing on shops or small and medium-size enterprises that have slightly more income, Wong said, adding that she also heard other legislators in the party say company taxes were being inspected if the owner was considered close to the DPP.
Wong also said that under the Political Donations Act (政治獻金法), donors who donated to a political party had to write the name of the company.
“They audit businesspeople who support the DPP,” Wong said.
The government’s actions have caused corporations to hold back on donations to the DPP, which Wong said was a means to cut the party’s financial lifeline.
Another DPP legislator, who requested anonymity out of concern that it would be more difficult to raise funds, said that in the legislative elections in 2007, some donors who donated tens of thousands of New Taiwan dollars were later subjected to tax audits.
As a result, those donors became reluctant to donate again, making fundraising this year even harder, the source said.
In response to Wong’s allegations that the Taxation Agency was intimidating companies from donating to the DPP via audits, Deputy Minister of Finance Chang Sheng-ford (張盛和) said no such thing was happening.
“I was chief of the Taxation Agency for a decade and it doesn’t matter if it’s the DPP or the KMT [Chinese Nationalist Party] in power, it has never received instructions like that,” Chang said.
“Civil servants now have the concept of administrative neutrality and they would not inspect your taxes on grounds of political gain,” he said.
“How would Taxation Agency personnel know if the corporation is pan-green or pan-blue?” Chang asked.
Translated by Jake Chung, Staff Writer
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China. The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,900) for advertisements that exceeded its approved business scope and ordered the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license would be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter supervision of Chinese e-commerce platforms and more stringent measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan as US President Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on origin laundering. The legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday met to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report on the matter. Democratic Progressive Party