Vice Minister of Economy and Finance: "98% of the People Are Unaffected by the Comprehensive Real Estate Tax... Exaggerated Concerns"

Lee Eok-won, First Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance, is speaking while presiding over the 39th Innovation Growth Strategy Review Meeting, the COVID-19 Policy Review Meeting, the Korean New Deal Review Task Force, and the 33rd Price-Related Vice Ministers' Meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 19th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] Lee Okwon, the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, stated ahead of the comprehensive real estate tax notice that "98% of the people are unrelated to the comprehensive real estate tax," emphasizing that some concerns are exaggerated.

On the morning of the 19th, Vice Minister Lee held the '39th Innovation Growth Strategy Review Meeting, Policy Review Meeting, Korean New Deal Review Meeting, and 33rd Price-Related Vice Ministers Meeting' at the Government Seoul Office and made these remarks.

He said, "Regarding the comprehensive real estate tax to be notified next week, I would like to say just one thing about the criticism that a large number of people will be heavily taxed," and emphasized, "Although there are exaggerated concerns, the clear fact is that about 98% of the entire population will not receive a tax notice."

He continued, "The tax burden on some high-priced single-home households who have to pay the comprehensive real estate tax will also be significantly eased according to the government's protection measures for actual demanders," explaining, "For elderly single-home households, the deduction rate has been increased up to 80%, and the taxable standard amount has been raised from a publicly announced price of 900 million won to 1.1 billion won."

Regarding the National Support Fund, which began to be paid from September 6, he reported that payments have already been completed for 98.7% of the eligible recipients. He said, "Out of 43.26 million people eligible according to the National Support Fund database, payments have been completed for 42.72 million people, which corresponds to 98.7%," and added, "In terms of amount, 10.8 trillion won, which is 98% of the 11 trillion won budget reflected in the second supplementary budget, has been disbursed so far."

Furthermore, he stated, "An analysis of the usage of the paid National Support Fund shows that out of the 7.7 trillion won charged to credit and debit cards, 6.6 trillion won, or 85.5%, had already been used as of the 24th of last month," and noted, "Looking at related economic sentiment indicators at the time of the support fund payment, it can be confirmed that the National Support Fund contributed to some extent to the recovery of economic sentiment."

Regarding loss compensation for small businesses and small merchants who suffered business losses due to compliance with gathering bans and business hour restrictions, he explained, "Out of 615,000 eligible companies, 533,000 companies, or 86.7%, applied for payment, and payments totaling 1.5 trillion won have been completed for 525,000 companies." He added, "For industries not eligible for loss compensation, we will promptly finalize and announce customized support plans considering the characteristics and demand of individual industries."

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