Lee Jae-myung "Abolish Securities Transaction Tax" vs Yoon Seok-yeol "Abolish Capital Gains Tax"

Lee "Oppose Capital Gains Tax Abolition as It Benefits the Rich"… Yoon "Abolishing Securities Transaction Tax Not Desired by Retail Investors"

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, announced a pledge to abolish the securities transaction tax on the 21st. This is the exact opposite of Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party candidate, who proposed abolishing the capital gains tax on stocks instead of the securities transaction tax. Regardless of who wins, it is expected that either the securities transaction tax or the capital gains tax on stocks will be abolished.

On the same day, Lee stated on his Facebook, "I will protect individual investors and create new opportunities." He also promised to improve the short-selling system, which is disadvantageous to individuals, including the borrowing period and collateral ratio, and to strictly punish illegal short-selling activities.

The abolition of the securities transaction tax was originally a pledge made by candidate Yoon. However, Yoon withdrew this pledge, saying "individual investors do not want it," and Lee criticized this. Subsequently, Yoon proposed abolishing the capital gains tax on stocks instead of the securities transaction tax. Lee opposes the abolition of the capital gains tax, pointing out that it could provide greater benefits not only to small investors but also to the wealthy.

However, Yoon's pledge effectively reverses the government's taxation plan. The government plans to fully implement taxation on financial investment income starting January 2023. Not only major shareholders but also individual investors will be taxed if they earn capital gains exceeding 50 million KRW annually, with a capital gains tax rate of 20% for taxable income up to 300 million KRW and 25% for amounts exceeding 300 million KRW.

In addition, Lee proposed other capital market pledges such as ▲expanding the stock purchase ratio of pension funds ▲protecting small shareholders (introducing a comprehensive damage relief system) ▲raising the allocation ratio for general subscription of public offering stocks from 25% to 30%. Lee emphasized, "A competent economic president who truly understands the market must be elected so that the expectation that stock prices will be boosted can lead to achieving a composite stock price index of 5,000 points." He added, "If we can turn the crisis into momentum, Korea's stock market will be completely transformed," and stated, "I, Lee Jae-myung, who truly understands the market, will protect individual investors and create new opportunities."

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