[Changes from the Second Half of the Year] Strengthened Punishment for Voice Phishing... VAT Reduction for Sole Proprietors

Temporary 30% Reduction in Vehicle Individual Consumption Tax

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] From the second half of this year, penalties for the transfer and rental of "daepo" bank accounts used in crimes such as voice phishing will be strengthened. In addition, the value-added tax (VAT) payment amount for individual business owners with annual sales of 80 million won or less will be reduced to the simplified taxpayer level until the end of the year. The individual consumption tax imposed on passenger car purchases will also be temporarily reduced by 30%.

The government published "Changes Starting from the Second Half of 2020," summarizing the systems and legal matters changing from the second half of this year, on the 29th.

According to this, the Financial Services Commission established a legal basis in December 2018 as part of a comprehensive voice phishing countermeasure to prevent crime damage. From August 20, penalties for the transfer and rental of "daepo" bank accounts misused as channels for voice phishing will be increased from the existing imprisonment of 3 years and a fine of 20 million won to imprisonment of 5 years and a fine of 30 million won. In addition, electronic financial transactions by voice phishing offenders will be restricted to prevent repeated damage by the same criminals.

The government will also reduce VAT to the simplified taxpayer level until the end of the year for individual business owners with annual sales of 80 million won or less (excluding VAT) to minimize the impact of and early recovery from the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). However, real estate rental businesses and entertainment bars are excluded. It is expected that 1.16 million individual business owners will benefit from this tax relief, and the government is projected to bear a tax revenue loss of about 700 billion won.

Furthermore, the individual consumption tax imposed on passenger car purchases will be temporarily reduced until the end of the year. However, the reduction rate has been lowered from 70% to 30%. Normally, the individual consumption tax on passenger cars is 5% of the ex-factory price. For example, if you purchase a car worth 100 million won, you must pay 5 million won as individual consumption tax. The individual consumption tax was restored from 3.5% at the end of last year to 5% again in January and February this year. Then, as consumption shrank due to COVID-19, it was reduced to 1.5% from March to June and changed to 3.5% from July to December. It changes three times a year.

In addition, a preemptive purchase system for non-listed stock payment in kind, shortening the business registration certificate issuance period, and the Online Investment-Linked Finance Act will be implemented.

A government official said, "We will continue to strive to ensure that policies tailored to changes in our society are better communicated to the public."

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