What Do You Know about Taxpayers’ Rights?
For the purposes of implementing the protection of the existence right, work right, property right, and other relevant basic rights in the Constitution of the Republic of China, insuring rights of taxpayers, achieving tax equity, and carrying through the due process of law, the President announced “The Taxpayer Rights Protection Act ” (“the Act”) on December 28, 2016 and the Act was enforced on December 28, 2017. In order to carry out the legislative purposes of the Act, the Ministry of Finance, ROC established “The Project Concerning Taxpayers’ Rights Protection, Ministry of Finance”, which became effective from 2018. It will be updated every two years.
Taxation is closely and strongly related to our daily lives. The tax items, including income tax, house tax and land tax, are within the scope of application of the Act. Although the Act has come into force in 2017, most people have no idea about the Act and fail to fight for their own rights while facing tax investigations and enforcement proceedings. Therefore, you shall learn more about the Act to protect yourself.
What are the important articles of the Act?
- The expense that taxpayers pay for maintaining their basic living in accordance with human dignity for themselves and their dependents shall not be taxed.
- Taxpayers shall pay tax according to their actual affordability; no differential treatment is permitted unless for reasonable policy purposes.
- In relation to laws involving taxation, such laws should be construed in accordance with the principle of taxation law and the respective purposes of the relevant laws, balancing therewith the economic purposes and the principle of equality in substantive taxation.
- The authorities shall actively make the information available to the public for inquiry, downloading, and usage.
- The authorities shall actively provide appropriate and essential assistance to taxpayers, and ensure them protection by due process of tax collection.
- Taxation special tribunals shall be set up in the Supreme Administrative Court and the High Administrative Court to try the administrative litigation filed by taxpayers due to taxation cases.
- To formulate advisory opinions of the basic policy of taxpayers’ rights protection, the central competent authority shall organize a taxpayer rights protection advisory committee.
- The tax collection authorities shall actively provide appropriate and essential assistance to taxpayers, and appoint taxpayer rights protection ombudsmen by means of task forces in regard to their functions.
What is “The Project Concerning Taxpayers’ Rights Protection, Ministry of Finance” about?
According to “The 2020-2021 Project Concerning Taxpayers’ Rights Protection, Ministry of Finance”, the Ministry of Finance, ROC set up 5 goals as follows:
- The expense to basic living shall not be taxed.
- The satisfactory circumstance of levying shall be established, and equity shall be maintained.
- The due process of law shall be carried out, and opportunities for understanding tax acts, policy-oriented tax incentives, and other information available to the public shall be promoted.
- A great diversity of communication channels shall be established by taxpayer advocacy organizations.
- The legal remedies for taxpayers’ rights shall be strengthened.
*For more details about “The Taxpayer Rights Protection Act”, please refer to https://law.moj.gov.tw/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?pcode=G0340142
*For more details about “The 2020-2021 Project Concerning Taxpayers’ Rights Protection, Ministry of Finance”, please refer to https://www.mof.gov.tw/singlehtml/1566?cntId=ce8cbbae190e40e18691ace373316d6c
