The Longtan plant of bankrupt panel maker Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) has finally been successfully sold at auction, delivering an unexpected windfall to the Taoyuan City government, which had long been unable to collect the taxes it was owed.

• After several failed auctions, CPT's Longtan plant was bought at the end of July by three corporate entities acting jointly for just over NT$5.2 billion.
• The plant is Taoyuan City's single largest case of unpaid taxes, with house tax and land value tax arrears accumulated over many years exceeding NT$500 million, which will be deducted from the auction proceeds as a priority claim.
• Together with roughly NT$1 billion in land value increment tax payable by the seller and about NT$100 million in deed tax payable by the buyers, the city treasury stands to take in a combined total of more than NT$1.6 billion.
• For local finances, this amounts to plugging a long-standing hole in the books in one go.

Outlook: Attention now turns to the timetable for the transfer of ownership and the actual receipt of the tax payments, as well as what the new buyers plan to do with the plant site.