Yoo Seung-min: "Securities Transaction Tax Must Be Immediately Abolished... No Policy Effect and Unfair"

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Yoo Seung-min, a former lawmaker and presidential candidate of the People Power Party, pledged on the 12th to abolish the securities transaction tax. He argued that since income tax is already collected, the transaction tax is unfair.

On the same day, Yoo stated on social media (SNS), "The ‘securities transaction tax’ must be abolished immediately," adding, "The securities transaction tax has no policy effect and no justification for its continuation."

He described the securities transaction tax as a "clear double taxation," pointing out, "If income is generated from stock trading, income tax is paid, so why collect the transaction tax again?" Yoo said, "The government's excuse that the purposes are different is just a pretext," and added, "From the public’s perspective, the government is simply double taxing a single transaction, nothing more and nothing less."

He introduced cases such as the United States and Japan, which have abolished the securities transaction tax, and China and Hong Kong, which impose the securities transaction tax but do not levy capital gains tax.

Additionally, he argued, "It is also unfair that securities companies are exempted from the tax as market makers, while individuals are taxed," and claimed, "Even without the transaction tax, commissions already play that role in managing market instability factors such as high-frequency trading."

Yoo promised, "By abolishing the securities transaction tax, I will create an opportunity for the domestic stock market to leap forward as a global advanced market."

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