The Ministry of Finance yesterday said the breakdown of cross-strait negotiations on a tax pact on Monday was mainly the result of a dispute over levying income tax on China-based Taiwanese businesspeople according to where they reside or where they get paid.

The ministry said the breakdown was not related to sovereignty, apparently contradicting comments a day earlier by Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), who said the deal was delayed because the treaty would have treated Taiwan the same as Hong Kong.