On Jan. 4, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said the government would distribute NT$140 billion (US$4.24 billion) out of last year's surplus tax revenue to the public in the form of NT$6,000 cash payments per person. The plan has received backlash from some economists and legislators, with some saying the surplus should be targeted to reduce economic inequality.
"Surplus tax revenue should be allocated to improving social welfare, building infrastructure such as affordable housing properties, and fortifying power grid resilience," said TPP Legislator Jang Chyi-lu (張其祿), who is also a professor of public policy at National Sun Yat-sen University, at a press conference on Wendesday (Jan. 11).
Joe Chen (陳國樑), a public finance professor at National Cheng-chi University, feels the government is not making good use of the tax surplus by simply giving out cash to everyone. Chen believes giving money back implies the government is not able to take better care of taxpayers' money.
Another issue is that the NT$140 billion needed for the NT$6,000 cash payments will not be available until the tax surplus is approved by the audit department in July, so the government would have to issue debt to initially fund the distribution plan, according to Business Today. In Wednesday's press conference, the TPP caucus said the government would need to initially issue an additional NT$15 billion in debt to fund the cash distribution, while also noting that the government added NT$301 billion in debt in 2022.
Meanwhile, the outgoing Finance Minister Su Jain-rong (蘇建榮) said in a legislative meeting earlier this year that the surplus tax revenue should be used to reduce the national debt.
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