[2021 National Audit] Hong Nam-ki: "Digital Tax Will Be Levied More on Multinational Corporations than Our Companies"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Ji-hwan] Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki stated on the 6th that if a digital tax is introduced, the amount of tax paid by multinational corporations in South Korea will be greater than the additional tax burden on our domestic companies.

At the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee audit on the same day, in response to a related question from Democratic Party lawmaker Jeong Il-young, Deputy Prime Minister Hong said, "If a digital tax is introduced, our companies operating in other countries will also have to bear taxes, but it will also secure a tax base for multinational corporations operating domestically." He expressed the view that exercising taxing rights domestically will be much greater than what our companies pay.

However, in response to a question from Basic Income Party lawmaker Yong Hye-in about the revenue estimates of the digital tax, he said, "It is difficult to accurately predict tax revenue at this time due to many variables such as revenue attribution criteria and allocation ratios," adding, "The allocation ratio must be finalized this month to make an estimate."

He added, "Since the profit and loss relationship varies depending on which provisions are reflected and to what extent, we are positioning ourselves in a way that secures national interests as much as possible."

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