By Kenneth A. Jacobsen, Temple University School of Law, Philadelphia, USA

ABSTRACT: 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 byproduct 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.

Click to read the full paper: Abrogating the Rule of Law: The Tai Ji Men Tax Case in Taiwan