A Taoyuan landowner who faked a divorce and moved his assets to his wife to dodge NT$21 million in land tax has agreed to pay back the remaining NT$17 million in installments — a win for the city's tax collectors.

• The man transferred everything he owned to his wife and staged a divorce, leaving himself with nothing on paper when the case went to enforcement in 2006.
• A change in the law stretched the collection window by ten years, so the debt did not quietly expire.
• Facing the risk that the fake divorce would become permanent and leave him broke, he negotiated a payment plan and cleared the NT$17 million.
• Taoyuan publishes its biggest tax debtors every year — individuals owing over NT$10 million, companies over NT$50 million.

Outlook: Only two names are left on Taoyuan's list, both believed to be front men, with one repaying just NT$8,000 a month — so the city's remaining unpaid tax will take years to recover.