Chairman Ma: Capital Gains Tax Must Be Implemented

News Release

Source: KMT Culture and Communications Committee

May 9, 2012

Chairman Ma: Capital Gains Tax Must Be Implemented

On May 9, the KMT Central Standing Committee invited Finance Minister Christina Liu to report on “The Purpose and Benefits of Taxing Capital Gains.” Chairman Ma Ying-jeou expressed his determination to implement a capital gains tax on stock transactions, and stated that the KMT would push for the implementation of the tax with a resolute attitude. Chairman Ma added that the KMT supported the capital gains tax bill in the Legislative Yuan, and the party would push for the enactment of the bill without hesitation.

In response to the recent controversy over the capital gains tax, Chairman Ma pointed out that everyone questioned the government’s resolve to implement a capital gains tax as a result of insufficient communication. Therefore, Chairman Ma said that he instructed the Finance Ministry to publicize the details of the capital gains tax on stock transactions to dispel the public’s suspicions and in order to allow the public to understand the purpose, details, and impact of a capital gains tax.

Chairman Ma explained that the most important goal of a capital gains tax was to achieve social justice and fairness by taxing investors who made large profits in the stock market based on the principle of ability to pay. Chairman Ma added that the government currently only imposed a securities transaction tax and the tax revenue was stable, but this did not adhere to the principle of ability to pay. There was a general consensus that the fact that investors who made large profits in the stock market did not have to pay any tax on that income was unfair to taxpayers who were taxed on their salaries, causing regular taxpayers to feel exploited.

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