萬國法律事務所

Under the current Tax Collection Act, tax defaulters whose cases have been transferred to the Administrative Enforcement Agency for compulsory enforcement but which have not yet been concluded within a span of 5 years commencing from 5 March 2007 are exempt from paying overdue taxes. As such, tax authorities may no longer pursue such arrears when the five-year period expires on March 5, 2012.

According to the Ministry of Finance, as of March 5, 2007, more than 210,000 cases have been transferred to the Administrative Enforcement Agency for compulsory enforcement, accounting for tax arrears totaling approximately NT$183.5 billion. As a consequence, per the current Act, overdue taxes totaling NT$183.5 billion will be written off right away on March 5, 2012, when the five-year period expires.

The public has been critical of the current Act as it is considered to constitute an amnesty for wealthy tax defaulters. To address the public concern regarding fairness, the Cabinet passed a proposal to amend the Tax Collection Act on 27 May 2010, extending the collection period for another 5 years to 5 March 2017. Once enacted by the legislature, tax defaulters whose cases have been transferred to compulsory enforcement on or before March 5, 2007 will be pursued for their arrears until 5 March 2017, instead of 2012.