Cabinet approves amendments to revenue allocation law

Taipei, Nov. 20 (CNA) The Executive Yuan on Thursday approved draft amendments to a law controlling how tax revenues are allocated to local governments.

According to the Finance Ministry, which drafted the bill, the changes to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures would see the central government allocate a record of NT$1.2 trillion in tax revenues to Taiwan's 22 city and county governments.

At a press briefing, Cabinet Secretary-General Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said the three main categories of allocation -- centrally-allocated tax revenues, general grants and program grants -- to local governments would all increase under the proposal relative to 2025 levels.

Allocations to the six special municipalities -- Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung -- would rise by 15 percent under the plan, while allocations to the 16 other city and county governments would increase by 25 percent, Chang said.

The Cabinet's draft bill faces dim prospects in the opposition-controlled Legislature, which passed its own revisions to the revenue allocation act last Friday.

In a statement later Thursday, the main opposition Kuomintang's (KMT) legislative caucus said the amendments the Legislature passed should take precedence.

The caucus claimed that Minister for Budget, Accounting and Statistics Chen Shu-tzu (陳淑姿) threatened last week that the government would ask the Legislature to reconsider the amendments, or request an interpretation by the Constitutional Court.

Only after the fate of the Legislature's bill is resolved would there be any need or possibility of discussing the Cabinet's proposal, said Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強), the caucus' secretary-general.

The smaller opposition Taiwan People's Party likewise issued a statement accusing the Cabinet of "using erroneous numbers to deceive people," and vowed to take unspecified steps against the Cabinet's "unconstitutional, disorderly" actions.