Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/07/04
By: Chiu Po-sheng and Frances Huang

Taipei, July 4 (CNA) The wealth gap between the richest households and their poorest counterparts remains wide, according to statistics compiled by the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

Following the month-long income tax filing season in May, the MOF released data showing that the top 5 percent of tax paying households reported an average of NT$4.72 million (US$154,754) in annual income, compared with the average of NT$47,000 reported by the bottom 5 percent.

The figures show the gap between the richest and the poorest households is the second-highest level since 2015, when the difference reached around 110 times, the MOF data shows.

Among the top 5 percent of the tax-paying households, the average annual wage totaled NT$2.87 million, about 198 times the average of only NT$14,000 reported by the bottom 5 percent, the MOF said.    [FULL  STORY]