Yun Hojung: "This Year's Excess Tax Revenue 50 Trillion Won... Sufficient Funding for 17 Trillion Won '3 Major Package' Including Daily Recovery Support Fund"

Finance Ministry, If Deliberately Underestimated Projections, 'National Audit' Needed

[Asia Economy Reporters Oh Ju-yeon and Jeon Jin-young] Yoon Ho-jung, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated on the 16th, "This year's tax revenue surplus is expected to be around 50 trillion won," adding, "Since 19 trillion won more than expected in July has come in, utilizing this can cover the budget needed for the three major packages (universal daily recovery support fund, expanded issuance of local currency, and compensation for small business losses) as well as other necessary quarantine expenses."

Yoon Ho-jung, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the policy coordination meeting held at the National Assembly on the 11th and delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

On the same day, Yoon appeared on YTN Radio's 'Hwang Bo-seon's Start of a New Morning' and said, "The total amount for the three major packages, including compensation for small business losses, issuance of local currency, and daily recovery support fund, is about 16 to 17 trillion won, and the funding for this is clear."

Yoon added, "During the second supplementary budget, the government estimated that about 31 trillion won in additional tax revenue would be collected this year, but according to my recent confirmation, the tax revenue surplus this year is expected to be around 50 trillion won, which is much higher than the government's initial estimate of 31 trillion won in July." He strongly criticized the government, saying that if the government deliberately underestimated the total additional tax revenue, a state audit should be conducted.

He said, "I think this is a serious situation to the extent that I wonder if there has ever been such a discrepancy in statistics while managing national finances," and criticized, "The Ministry of Economy and Finance has claimed to have thoroughly estimated tax revenue until now, but looking at this year's results, it is very disappointing."

He continued, "If the (this year's surplus tax revenue) is 50 trillion won, it means nearly 15% of the total tax revenue was miscalculated," adding, "There must be accountability for this, and I think the budget authorities and tax authorities should apologize to the public for not anticipating the excess tax collection, failing to prepare sufficient expenditure budgets, and excessively issuing government bonds."

Furthermore, Yoon reiterated the need for the National Assembly to promptly process the inclusion of the three major packages in next year's budget proposal.

Yoon emphasized, "There are criticisms that the compensation for losses is insufficient, and there are blind spots in the Loss Compensation Act that need to be addressed," adding, "Also, as we transition to 'With Corona,' support for daily recovery should be prioritized."

He pointed out, "Since the taxes were collected from the people, they should be returned to the people and used as a driving force to create a virtuous economic cycle. If the government accumulates this, it would be equivalent to imposing austerity measures that cause suffering to the people struggling due to COVID-19." Yoon stressed, "We will clearly correct this through discussions in the National Assembly."

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party is pushing to rename the universal disaster support fund proposed by presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung as the 'Universal Daily Recovery Support Fund' and plans to provide support at the level of 200,000 won per person. It is known that the payment method is likely to be through local currency. On the same day, Yoon said, "During yesterday's discussion at the Administrative Safety Committee, it was decided to provide about 200,000 won per person. Therefore, the budget amount is estimated at 8.1 trillion won, and including local government expenses, it is estimated at 10.3 trillion won."

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