Clipping Board » Other ─ There is currently no cure for this disease of the country and society...
Update Date: 2009/06/20 02:47
By Xie Jinfang / Taipei Report
The wealth gap in Taiwan is like a runaway horse, widening uncontrollably! According to the latest statistics from the Fiscal Information Agency of the Ministry of Finance, based on dividing the 5.37 million tax-filing households into 20 income brackets, the average income of the top 5% in the pyramid in 2007 was over NT$4.28 million, while the bottom 5% averaged only NT$69,000—a staggering 62-fold difference, marking a historic high.
Looking back ten years to 1998, the gap between the richest 5% and the poorest 5% in Taiwan was 32-fold. Over the past decade, this income disparity has surged from 32 times to 62 times, with no signs of the worsening trend slowing down.
Taiwan experienced a severe economic recession in 2001, with GDP contracting by 2.1%. That year, the income gap stood at 42 times. In the following years, although Taiwan's economy returned to positive growth, the wealth gap continued to escalate.
According to the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting, and Statistics' household income survey, over the past decade (from 1998 to 2007), the average disposable income of all households grew by 5.49%. When divided into quintiles, the lowest income group saw a mere 0.41% increase in income over the decade—almost no growth—while the highest income group grew by 8.18%, a significant disparity.
Professor Lin Wanyi from the Department of Social Work at National Taiwan University pointed out that the survey reveals a gradual widening of the wealth gap over the past decade, primarily due to rapid income growth among the wealthy while the poor saw minimal increases, exacerbating the disparity over time.
Lin Wanyi noted that, over the long term, both the Fiscal Information Agency's tax statistics and the Directorate-General's surveys indicate a clear trend of widening income inequality in Taiwan. The financial crisis has further worsened the situation, with soaring unemployment rates, declining wages for the working class, and ill-advised tax cuts likely to deepen the wealth gap.
Professor Zeng Juwei from the Department of Public Finance at National Chengchi University remarked that the government's earlier implementation of the Alternative Minimum Tax was intended to redistribute income but failed to achieve the expected results.
Additionally, the Ma administration's tax relief measures in response to the financial crisis primarily benefited the wealthy, further worsening income inequality. Although the Executive Yuan raised deductions, exemptions, and lowered income tax rates this year, these measures had little redistributive effect, as capital gains—the largest source of income—remain untaxed, a key factor in tax inequity and worsening income distribution.
He emphasized that in recent years, the government has relied mainly on social welfare for income redistribution, with taxation playing a negligible or even counterproductive role. Given the worsening reality of income inequality, the Ma administration can no longer afford to ignore the issue.
Source: http://tw. news. yahoo. com/ article/ url/ d/ a/ 090620/ 4/ 1llk9. html
Wealth Gap Hits Record High, Widens to 62 Times
By Xie Jinfang / Taipei Report
The wealth gap in Taiwan is like a runaway horse, widening uncontrollably! According to the latest statistics from the Fiscal Information Agency of the Ministry of Finance, based on dividing the 5.37 million tax-filing households into 20 income brackets, the average income of the top 5% in the pyramid in 2007 was over NT$4.28 million, while the bottom 5% averaged only NT$69,000—a staggering 62-fold difference, marking a historic high.
Looking back ten years to 1998, the gap between the richest 5% and the poorest 5% in Taiwan was 32-fold. Over the past decade, this income disparity has surged from 32 times to 62 times, with no signs of the worsening trend slowing down.
Taiwan experienced a severe economic recession in 2001, with GDP contracting by 2.1%. That year, the income gap stood at 42 times. In the following years, although Taiwan's economy returned to positive growth, the wealth gap continued to escalate.
According to the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting, and Statistics' household income survey, over the past decade (from 1998 to 2007), the average disposable income of all households grew by 5.49%. When divided into quintiles, the lowest income group saw a mere 0.41% increase in income over the decade—almost no growth—while the highest income group grew by 8.18%, a significant disparity.
Professor Lin Wanyi from the Department of Social Work at National Taiwan University pointed out that the survey reveals a gradual widening of the wealth gap over the past decade, primarily due to rapid income growth among the wealthy while the poor saw minimal increases, exacerbating the disparity over time.
Lin Wanyi noted that, over the long term, both the Fiscal Information Agency's tax statistics and the Directorate-General's surveys indicate a clear trend of widening income inequality in Taiwan. The financial crisis has further worsened the situation, with soaring unemployment rates, declining wages for the working class, and ill-advised tax cuts likely to deepen the wealth gap.
Professor Zeng Juwei from the Department of Public Finance at National Chengchi University remarked that the government's earlier implementation of the Alternative Minimum Tax was intended to redistribute income but failed to achieve the expected results.
Additionally, the Ma administration's tax relief measures in response to the financial crisis primarily benefited the wealthy, further worsening income inequality. Although the Executive Yuan raised deductions, exemptions, and lowered income tax rates this year, these measures had little redistributive effect, as capital gains—the largest source of income—remain untaxed, a key factor in tax inequity and worsening income distribution.
He emphasized that in recent years, the government has relied mainly on social welfare for income redistribution, with taxation playing a negligible or even counterproductive role. Given the worsening reality of income inequality, the Ma administration can no longer afford to ignore the issue.
Source: http://tw. news. yahoo. com/ article/ url/ d/ a/ 090620/ 4/ 1llk9. html
2009/06/20 13:21