The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a slew of draft amendments that would give the government and the courts some flexibility in setting fines instead of fixed rates.
The amendments to Article 54 of the Land Tax Act (土地稅法), Articles 29, 30 and 31 of the Vehicle License Tax Act (使用牌照稅法) and select articles under the Tobacco and Liquor Tax Act (菸酒稅法) would allow agencies more leeway in assigning fines based on the severity of the breach, the Ministry of Finance said.
Amendments to the Land Tax Act target those who purchase land or resell it without registering the change of ownership with the government, the ministry said.
Photo: David Chang, EPA
The amendments would change the fines for contravening the act from a fixed rate of 2 percent of the land’s sale price to fines of 2 percent or lower of the current land value, they added.
For the Vehicle License Tax Act, the amendments would change the fines for those who contravene the terms of temporary licenses, vehicle test drive licenses or who purchased a vehicle and do not obtain a license from the fixed rate of double the tax to a fine of less than double the original tax for the vehicle, the ministry said.
The sale or transfer of a vehicle license would reduce the driver’s payment of the vehicle tax from three times to three times or less, it said.
As for amendments to the Tobacco and Liquor Tax Act, the penalty floor for fines would be removed and the wording would be changed from “double to quadruple the original tax” to “quadruple the original tax or lower,” the ministry said.
Unintentional or minor contraventions could result in lower fines, it added.
The ministry also abolished a stand-in penalty clause introduced after the nation did away with the government monopoly on tobacco and alcohol sales, and announced that overdue tobacco and alcohol tax, as well as Tobacco Health and Welfare Surcharges, would now observe Article 20 of the Tax Collection Act (稅捐稽徵法).
The article states that delinquency charges for overdue tax would equal 1 percent of the taxable amount every three days of delay.
The ministry said it would work with the legislature, adding that it hopes to complete ratification as soon as possible.
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