According to the Tax Collection Act, the criminal tax fraud means that a taxpayer evades tax payment by fraud or other unrighteous means, for example, using forged invoices, forged bank statements, etc.
Please see the answer to question 3.
No. Only a taxpayer who evades tax payment by fraud or other unrighteous will trigger criminal proceedings for tax fraud under Article 41, 42 and 43 of the Tax Collection Act.
No. According to Article 41 of the Tax Collection Act, only a taxpayer who evades tax payment by fraud or other unrighteous means will trigger criminal proceedings for tax fraud.
The self-disclosure program should be before a case brought about by an informant and before a case under investigation by an investigator appointed by the tax collection authorities or the Ministry of Finance. Full payment of the unpaid taxes (with statutory interest) is required.
Yes. A criminal proceeding for tax fraud can be initiated by the Public Prosecutor.
Whenever the Taiwan tax authority considers the taxpayer's conduct as a criminal offense, then they are under the obligation to inform and send the file to the prosecutor's office. If the prosecutor agrees with the Taiwan tax authority's position, then the Public Prosecutor will file the criminal complaint before the competent criminal court.
The Taiwan tax authority is not under the obligation to stop the tax audit when it detects indicators of a potential criminal tax offence.
Under Article 21 of the Tax Collection Act, statute of limitation shall be determined in accordance with the following provisions:
a. For the tax which should be declared and paid by a taxpayer under the act and has been declared within the statutory period for filing tax return, and which the taxpayer has no intention to evade by fraud or any other unrighteous means, the period for assessment shall be five years.
b. For the stamp tax payable by a taxpayer under the act and any other tax which should be assessed by the tax collection authorities based on the data recorded in the Tax Registration Book or obtained through investigation, the period for assessment shall be five years.
c. For the tax which is not declared within the statutory period for filing tax return or has been intentionally evaded by the taxpayer by fraud or any other unrighteous means, the period for assessment shall be seven years.
During the periods for taxation set forth in the preceding paragraph, if any additional tax is found to be assessable on the same taxpayer under investigation, the taxpayer shall still be required to make supplemental payment thereof and/or subject to punishment for insufficient payment of said tax; however, no supplemental tax may be assessed or punishment may be imposed in respect of any additional tax which is found to be assessable after the expiry of the applicable statutory period for taxation.
Please see 7.
Under Article 41 of the Tax Collection Act, a taxpayer who evades tax payment by fraud or other unrighteous means shall be sentenced to imprisonment for no more than five years, and be imposed with a fine of no more than NTD 10,000,000.
A taxpayer committing an offense as described in the preceding paragraph, and the tax evasion amount is over NTD 10,000,000 for an individual or over NTD 50,000,000 for a profit-seeking enterprise, shall be sentenced to imprisonment of not less than one year but not more than seven years, and be imposed with a fine of not less than NTD 10,000,000 but not more than NTD 100,000,000.
Yes, a compliance or risk mitigation program in place can definitely mitigate the risk of tax evasion and subsequent criminal liability.
Yes. Under Article 48-1 of the Tax Collection Act, where a taxpayer voluntarily files a supplementary tax declaration with the tax collection authorities and makes supplementary payment covering the tax amount which he/she/it has failed to declare, as long as it is neither a case brought about by an informant, nor a case under investigation by an investigator appointed by the tax collection authorities or the Ministry of Finance, the taxpayer may be remitted from any or all of the following punishments and from any criminal liability if a criminal act is involved:
a. The punishment imposed under the provisions of Articles 41 through 45 of this Act; and
b. The punishment imposed under various tax acts and regulations governing tax evasion.
No.
No. It will not have an impact on the tax authorities' statute of limitation period.
Yes, the criminal prosecution does not impact the tax authorities' collection of underpaid taxes.
Yes. The criminal settlement is applicable to the tax fraud prescribed in Article 41, 42 and 43 of Tax Collection Act. According to the Code of Criminal Procedure, the defendant may ask the prosecutor to proceed with the settlement. If the prosecutor agrees and obtains the court's approval, the defendant can discuss the settlement with the prosecutor. The court will render a judgment based on the terms of the settlement.
Just individuals. The representative of Company will be an in-charge person of this company.
Yes. If foreign employees / directors commit the tax evasion, they will be prosecuted as local person.
Yes. Because the Company is the taxpayer in the case of short of payment of Company's taxes, it is still liable for the short tax payments.
Over the last five years, the statistics indicate that the criminal prosecution for tax offenses has not increased. Rather, the number of the prosecution is quite steady that only 30 to 50 of tax offense cases are prosecuted annually.