Sharp Increase in Building Gifts to Under-10 Gold Spoon Children... Up 52% Year-on-Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] Recently, cases of children under 10 years old receiving buildings as gifts have surged, highlighting the phenomenon of 'wealth inheritance.' It is analyzed that people are turning to gifts as a means to reduce capital gains tax and holding tax burdens caused by rising house prices.

According to the National Tax Service's National Tax Statistics Yearbook on the 13th, the total number of gift tax payments determined in 2018 was 160,421 cases, and the value of gifted assets totaled 28.610047 trillion won. This means that on average, assets worth 178.34 million won were gifted per case.

Compared to the previous year, the number of cases and the value of gifted assets increased by 9.62% and 16.65%, respectively. The average value of gifted assets per case also rose by 6.41%.

When dividing by the age of the donee (the person receiving the gift) and the type of gifted assets, children under 10 years old who received buildings such as houses increased significantly.

The number of donees under 10 years old who received buildings such as houses was 486, a 51.98% increase from 308 a year earlier. The value of gifted assets also jumped 82.8% to 81.922 billion won.

The growth rates of the number of donees under 10 years old and the value of gifted assets for buildings were far higher than those for land (number -2.9%, gifted asset value 34.35%), securities (19.49%, 37.19%), and financial assets (39.68%, 0.21%).

The number of donees under 10 years old and the value of gifted assets increased by 21% and 26.04%, respectively, over one year. The number of those under 10 who received assets exceeding 500 million won rose 34.6% from 185 to 249. Ninety-six individuals received gifted assets exceeding 1 billion won.

Not only those under 10 but also donees aged 19 or younger, including adolescents, numbered 10,880, a 27.2% increase from 8,552 a year earlier. The value of gifted assets was 1.418699 trillion won, up 18.4% from 1.197731 trillion won a year earlier.

Along with gifts to direct lineal ascendants and descendants such as young children, gifts between spouses have also become noticeably active. In 2018, the number of gift tax payments determined for gifts between spouses was 3,907, a 30.23% increase from 3,000 a year earlier. The value of gifted assets was 3.450057 trillion won, up 18.3% from 2.874581 trillion won a year earlier.

The value of gifted assets and other items include the gifted asset value for the relevant year plus all past divided gifted assets.

Meanwhile, the number of minors paying comprehensive real estate tax has exceeded 200. In 2018, the number of 0-19 year-olds obligated to pay comprehensive real estate tax was 225, a 25% increase from 180 a year earlier. The determined tax amount they must pay was 404 million won, with an average of 1.8 million won. Last year, the number of comprehensive real estate tax payers was 436,186, a 15.9% increase from 376,420 a year earlier.

A National Tax Service official said, "As gifts to minor children are increasing, we will strictly verify tax evasion such as disguised gifts."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.