Abrogating the Rule of Law: The Tai Ji Men Tax Case in Taiwan

Tai Ji Men, a spiritual school in Taiwan that teaches Qigong based on ancient Taoist traditions, was one of the movements targeted in a local crackdown against “cults” in 1996. Although the school and its founder, Dr. Hong Tao-tze, were eventually declared innocent of all...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Jacobsen, Kenneth A. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: [2020]
In: The journal of CESNUR
Year: 2020, Volume: 4, Issue: 5, Pages: 101-120
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Taiwan / Rule of law / Abolition of / Tax fraud / Acquittal / Disregard
IxTheo Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
AZ New religious movements
KBM Asia
ZC Politics in general
Further subjects:B Taxes and Spiritual Schools
B Hong Tao-tze
B Tax Cases in Taiwan
B Tax Justice
B Tai Ji Men
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Description
Summary:Tai Ji Men, a spiritual school in Taiwan that teaches Qigong based on ancient Taoist traditions, was one of the movements targeted in a local crackdown against “cults” in 1996. Although the school and its founder, Dr. Hong Tao-tze, were eventually declared innocent of all charges, as a by-product of these events a tax case has continued for the next twenty-four years. The highest jurisdictions in Taiwan concluded that there had been no tax evasion. However, Taiwan’s National Taxation Bureau has maintained its (illegal) tax bill for one year, 1992, and based on this, in 2020, has seized and auctioned properties of Dr Hong. The article surveys the main political and legal institutions in Taiwan and the Tai Ji Men case, concluding that what happened is a serious blow to Taiwan’s image as a Constitutional democracy.
ISSN:2532-2990
Contains:Enthalten in: The journal of CESNUR
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.26338/tjoc.2020.4.5.6