The Democratic Party Proposes Property Tax Thresholds of 600 Million KRW and Major Shareholder Tax at 1 Billion KRW: "Not for Election Purposes, but Tax Rationalization"

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[Asia Economy Reporter Wondara] The Democratic Party of Korea has settled on easing property tax criteria for single-homeowners to 'under 600 million won.' The major shareholder requirement for stock capital gains tax will be maintained at the current 1 billion won with a grace period.

On the morning of the 3rd, Jang Kyung-tae, a member of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the Democratic Party, appeared on MBC Radio and responded "Yes" to the question, "There has been conflict among the party, government, and Blue House over easing property tax reductions, but has it finally been decided to set the official land price standard at 600 million won?"

Jang said, "The Democratic Party is implementing policies to suppress speculative demand by imposing heavy taxes on speculative purposes. Regarding this, deciding on single-homeowners with an official land price under 600 million won and maintaining this standard at 600 million won is meaningful. However, it seems there was a compromise to maintain the current 1 billion won for the major shareholder requirement for stock capital gains tax," he explained.

Yang Hyang-ja, a Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party and member of the Planning and Finance Committee, also responded in a CBS Radio interview that morning to the question, "There are reports that the government’s plan to lower the major shareholder requirement to 300 million won is being postponed, and the property tax easing standard has been decided at 600 million won instead of 900 million won," saying, "That possibility is the highest."

Yang explained, "If it were set at 900 million won, it would greatly affect local tax revenues, and considering the COVID-19 crisis, local finances could become very difficult. Even at 600 million won, 78% of citizens will benefit from the property tax relief," she said.

When asked about the strong opposition from lawmakers in the metropolitan area, she replied, "We will have to persuade them as much as possible."

However, Yang added, "For single-homeowners under 600 million won, the property tax rate will be eased by 0.05 percentage points, and for those between 600 million and 900 million won, a compromise plan to reduce by 0.03 percentage points is also on the table and under discussion. If we say this is final, it could change again. Please wait a little longer."

Meanwhile, Shin Dong-geun, a Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party, responded in an MBC Radio interview that day to criticism that the party’s consideration of easing property tax criteria to 900 million won was 'for election purposes,' emphasizing, "If it were for election purposes, they would have raised it to 900 million won. That is not the case at all."

Shin said, "Originally it was 900 million won, but it was lowered to 600 million won. There was a demand to raise it to 900 million won, but it was set at 600 million won. It is not for election purposes at all, but part of rationalizing tax policy," he stated.

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