MOI approves Taiwan religious group bill

2015-05-11

A bill governing the organization of religious groups in Taiwan was greenlighted May 7 by the Ministry of the Interior, paving the way for better regulation of such entities and their activities.

“The legislation underscores government commitment to protecting religious beliefs and the freedom of assembly and association under the ROC Constitution,” an MOI official said. “It also grants greater autonomy to such organizations.”

A similar bill was submitted by the MOI for legislative review in 2001, with three different versions proposed in 2002, 2005 and 2008.

“During this time, the government could only use the 1929 Act of Supervising Temples when it came to regulating the 15,000 such facilities in Taiwan,” the official said. “But the outdated law governs only Buddhist and Taoist temples, and also fails to address the changing needs of religious groups in modern society.”

Under the legislation, the country’s 189 qualified religious facilities and groups can register as religious juristic persons to enjoy tax benefits such as exemptions on housing and land value taxes, as well as conditional farm land rentals.

These entities are required to submit an annual report to the authorities, with financial statements subject to regular audits if operations exceed certain thresholds.

In addition, details of donations must be disclosed to the public. To discourage money laundering, distributions of registered properties and resulting dividends are prohibited, with violators facing stiff fines of NT$50,000 (US$1,626) to NT$250,000.

The bill will be submitted for Cabinet approval by month-end before being sent to the Legislature for fast-tracked review.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=230154&ctNode=413)