Administrative Remedy

Every citizen has the duty to pay tax in accordance with the law, but he or she also has the right to appeal for remedy in case any administrative act on the part of the tax collection authority in a tax matter is found to be either improper or contrary to law, and if his or her right or rights have been violated. There are four levels of administrative remedy for tax matters: recheck, appeal and administrative lawsuit. For recheck, an application should be made to the tax collection authority that originally handled the case; for appeal , the matter should be referred to a competent superior authority. For an administrative lawsuit, the case should be referred to the Administrative Court under the Judicial Yuan. However, no appeal can be made unless a recheck has first been sought and no administrative lawsuit can be filed without an appeal having first been filed. In spite of the general procedures for collection and administrative remedies, appeals for remedy concerning domestic taxes on imported goods which are levied by Customs are governed by the Customs Law and the Customs Preventive Law, while other current cases of administrative remedy for taxation come under other different jurisdictions depending on what the competent superior authority is of the tax collection agency concerned, as shown in the following table:

A. Recheck

A taxpayer may, if he should find the determination unacceptable, request a recheck in accordance with the following provisions by filing a petition with the tax collection authority that originally handled the case in a prescribed form stating the reasons and accompanied by documentary evidence:

• In cases where the amount of tax leviable or payable retroactively is stated in a tax assessment notification, and has been delivered to the taxpayer, the petition to recheck should be made within 30 days after the expiry of the payment period.
• In cases where no amount of tax leviable or payable retroactively is stated in the tax assessment notification, a petition for recheck can be made within 30 days after the delivery of the tax assessment notification.

Any taxpayer or his/her agent who fails to make the petition to recheck within the above-mentioned time limit because of natural calamity, emergency or other irresistible event, can, within a one-month period after the cause of the delay has ceased, make a request for rehabilitation supported by concrete evidence. However, if the taxpayer has already failed to make the petition to recheck for over a year after the expiry of the above-mentioned time limit, then he is not allowed to request the rehabilitation. While he is making a request for rehabilitation, he must complete all the imperative procedures for recheck. The tax collection authority shall complete the recheck and issue a written determination to the taxpayer concerned within two months after receipt of the petition for recheck. In case the tax collection authority fails to make a determination after the expiry of the two-month period, the taxpayer may proceed to file an appeal.

B. Appeal

A taxpayer who is unconvinced of the recheck determination by the tax collection authority may appeal the determination in accordance with the provisions of the Law of Appeal within 30 days from the day after receipt of the recheck determination. He may further reappeal within 30 days from the day after receip of the appeal decision. But no appeal can be filed with respect to items not having been rechecked or not having been objected to in the original petition for recheck. However, any case for which the taxpayer has filed for administrative remedy can be forthwith appealed without having to go through the recheck process, provided it has been adjudged in the process of administrative remedy by an appellate authority or by the Administrative Court that “the original judgement be annulled and reviewed”, and provided the case has been rechecked by the tax collection authority but the taxpayer concerned remains unconvinced of the new decision.

C. Administrative Lawsuit

When a taxpayer remains unconvinced of a appeal decision, after having filed a appeal in accordance with the law against an administrative act of taxation by a tax agency of the Central Government or a local government because he regards the said administrative act to be prejudicial to his rights or when three months have passed since a appeal was filed and no decision has yet been made, or when two months have passed since the period for decision on appeal has been extended and no decision has yet been made, he may then file an administrative lawsuit with the Administrative Court within two months from the day after the delivery of the appeal decision upon the expiry of the period during which the appellate authority by law should make a decision. The decision of the Administrative Court is binding on all relevant organizations as far as the particular case is concerned.