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President of Association of World Citizens meeting with victims of unjust tax collections
President of Association of World Citizens (AWC) and AWC representative to UN, Geneva , Rene Wadlow, met with many victims suffering from abuse of taxes during his trip of human rights watch in Taiwan on 8 th of December. Mr. Ye Yang-Chun, a Taiwanese educated abroad with advanced bio-tech patents, came back to Taiwan to join a bio-tech business. He was able to contribute to the capital of the company with his patents and technologies in the rights offerings. The transaction was witnessed and certified by accountants and approved by the Ministry of Economic Affairs. However, tax authorities treated it differently. The shares he obtained through patents contributions were treated as income of Mr. Ye and he was taxed at accumulative income tax rates. Mr. Ye was issued an income tax bill of more than 4 million NT dollars. He was banned from making overseas trip for failing to pay taxes. His wife divorced with him as a result and he had to live in Taiwan by himself, away from his sons. “Why should I pay the price when two government branches hold different opinions?” says Mr. Ye during an interview. Many cases have shown that taxpayers are to bear the bitter consequences of government failures. Many victims have exhausted administrative remedies within the system. However, their voices are not heard by the government. He hopes to speak out to the whole world and work with international human rights organizations to bring attentions to the topic.
The on-line survey of ten most ridiculous tax news held by Chinese Human Rights Association in 2011 has exposed many inconceivable tax mistakes and errors. The second on the list is a tax bill issued and revoked many times over the past 30 plus years. The “taxpayer” identified by tax authority has passed away. His daughter-in-law attended the meeting with Rene Wadlow and explained the tax bills coming to their home ever year with shocking regularity in over 30 years. However, the bill was to someone else with same name but in opposite sex. The bill kept coming every year with penalties and the amount reached NTD 290,000. They returned the bill every year. The tax authority promised to correct the mistake but still the bill kept coming. Even after the wife of the “identified” taxpayer passed away, the tax bill was sent and the estate was frozen and auctioned to pay taxes. The victims suffering from disturbances and annoyances over 30 years only receive words of apologies from tax agents after their story was reported in the media. Mr. Huang was doing business in a grocery market. A vehicle tax bill was supposed sent to the stand next to Mr. Huang. Tax agents made mistakes and Mr. Huang received the tax bill. When he went to tax authority to sort things out, he was asked to provide proofs for himself. Tax authority revoked the bill after repeated efforts from Mr. Huang. However, 2 years later, he was again forced to pay taxes. And he had to defend his own rights again at his own time and costs. The owner of the vehicle is clearly stated in the title in the vehicle registration bureau. But tax agents refused to check with the bureau and kept bothering taxpayers.
Tai Ji Men representatives, accountants and lawyers filed charges against prosecutor Ho Kuan-Ren. Prosecutor Ho has violated the rights to life and the freedom of assembly of Tai Ji Men dizi. On one hand, prosecutor Ho charged that the monetary gifts from dizi to shifu were fraud; on the other hand, he treated the money as tuition income subject to income taxes. He therefore transferred the case, without court rulings, to tax authorities. The tax agents, without doing their due diligence, issued tax bills directly based upon the number crunching in the bill of indictment. When the Tai Ji Men case was eventually ruled not guilty and no tax evasions, tax authority refused to withdraw the tax bills. The Control Yuan conducted an investigation in 2002 into the Tai Ji Men case and identified the 8 flaws of prosecutor Ho's handling of the case and asked disciplinary actions against prosecutor Ho. In 2009, the Control Yuan also investigated tax agent's investigation in the Tai Ji Men case and issued reports seeking remedies from tax agents only with no success.
Tai Ji Men has traveled around the world promoting the essence of Chinese qigong and martial arts. Tax authority's persecution and clampdown on Tai Ji Men has seriously violated the freedom of belief, damaged fine Chinese culture and infringe upon the spirits of the two international Covenants. As a result, Tai Ji Men has filed an official report to the Chinese Human Rights Association and demanding prompt attentions to the violations of human rights. The reports are also delivered to Rene for reference.
After listening to the stories of the victims, Rene Wadlow commented that the Tai Ji Men case has received international attention. The trend has turned in favor of the taxpayers. The principle of fairness in taxation is becoming an important factor determining the functioning of public welfare. As a result, tax system has become an important international issue and a hotly-debated topic in Washington . Meanwhile the European Union also made discussions and plans for the four-year fiscal budget in 27 nations. There is a growing attention to the protection of taxpayer's rights in international communities. Rene has just drafted a Declaration of Taxpayer's Human Rights. The Declaration is equally applicable in Taiwan and around the world. It's especially relevant for Taiwan as more than 50% of the cases in administrative courts are tax-related. It is of critical urgency to help people understand their rights as taxpayers and to inspire people take actions to protect their lawful rights.
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