RSSTAIPEI (UCAN) — The bishops’ conference in Taiwan blames tax rules for delays in allocating money donated to aid victims of Typhoon Morakot that ripped through eastern and southern parts last August.
The bishops’ conference plenary meeting Dec. 8-12 decided to allocate donated funds to Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung dioceses, Father Otfried Chan, secretary general told UCA News.
However, “if the donation for the respective dioceses could not be used up by the fiscal year that ended in February, the remaining money would be taxed,” he said.
He said he believed donors would not wish to see their donation go to tax payments.
“So we wanted to wait until March to make the transfer in order to fit into the diocese’s budget,” Father Chan said.
The Church felt “regret and shock” at media reports that make “us seem unwilling to use the donation for victims,” the priest said.
A department of the Ministry of Interior that monitors donations and charitable activities recently posted a list of governmental and civil groups’ fund-raising campaigns for victims of Typhoon Morakot on its website.
The government report said that as of Feb. 24, the Catholic bishops’ conference had not allocated money earmarked for the three dioceses.
Local media reported on the donation report on March 2 saying that of total donations, less than NT$22.2 billion (about US$700 million) has been used.
“Some accounts have not used a penny until now,” including NT$20.11 million raised by the bishops’ conference, the reports said.
Archbishop John Hung Shan-chuan of Taipei, president of the bishops’ conference, told UCA News various dioceses and Catholic organizations have also raised funds for the victims.
Some of the donated funds have been distributed right after the storm as emergency relief aid through various Church organizations, such as Caritas Taiwan.
A government official from the Ministry of Interior also explained to the media afterward that some charity organizations seem to be slow in using the fund as many of them are planned for mid- and long-term reconstruction.
Typhoon Marokot caused flash flooding and mudslides, killing at least 460 people. Another 200 are still missing and more than 7,000 people lost their homes.
Father Chan said that the Ministry of Interior required all charitable organizations to provide the fund-raising balance sheet a year after the fund was launched.
In this case it “posted the report before the due date,” giving a chance for the media to comment, the priest said.
Government officials have apologized to the Church after the incident while noting that they will revise the donation report accordingly.
The bishops’ conference has already issued the balance sheet regarding the money transfer based on the plenary meeting’s resolution and the respective dioceses will then report the fund usage to the ministry directly.
The document was also posted on the bishops’ conference website.
The Church official said he understands the government hopes to reduce the chances of corruption and the incident was due to miscommunication.
Father Chan said the Church was very transparent about its finances and did not fear an audit.
TA09062.1592 March 10, 2010 54 EM-lines (507 words)
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