Gyeongbuk Province Greatly Reduces Local Taxes for Small Businesses and Medical Institutions

Temporary Medical Institution Screening Clinic Buildings and Livelihood Vehicle Acquisition Tax Reduction

Gyeongbuk Provincial Government Office.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongguk Lee] Gyeongbuk Province will exempt acquisition tax on temporary buildings of screening clinics installed by medical institutions for COVID-19 infectious disease treatment, as well as local resource facility tax on buildings, for the first time this year.

Tax benefits will be provided to medical institutions working hard on the front lines of quarantine, and local tax reductions such as acquisition tax exemptions for livelihood-type vehicles will be expanded and extended following last year.

Currently, there are a total of 58 screening clinics in the province, including 25 at city and county health centers and 33 temporary buildings such as containers at medical institutions. Among them, 16 screening clinics qualify for acquisition tax exemption.

To reduce the tax burden on medical institutions protecting the safety of residents from COVID-19, the provincial government obtained approval from the provincial council for local tax exemption and will implement it. The exemption is available until December 31 of this year.

For temporary buildings of screening clinics acquired from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021, the exemption will be applied retroactively, and any taxes already paid will be fully refunded.

As part of efforts to revive livelihoods, acquisition tax on livelihood-type vehicles acquired by small business owners will be exempted again this year following last year.

If a small business owner registered with a business address in Gyeongbuk at the time of acquisition obtains a vehicle such as ▲passenger cars with engine displacement of 1000cc or less ▲buses with seating capacity of 15 or fewer ▲cargo trucks with a maximum load of 1 ton or less ▲two-wheeled vehicles with engine displacement of 125cc or less, the acquisition tax for the first vehicle applied for exemption will be waived until December 31 of this year. If the acquisition tax exceeds 1 million KRW, the exemption will be up to 1 million KRW.

To receive acquisition tax exemption for livelihood-type vehicles, small business owners must prepare ▲identity verification documents (such as resident registration card) ▲business registration certificate ▲confirmation of application for support funds or small business owner confirmation issued by the Small and Medium Business Administration ▲local tax exemption application form and apply for acquisition tax exemption at the tax office of the city or county where the vehicle is registered to receive the benefit.

Also, following last year, if property tax was exempted by resolution of city or county local councils due to COVID-19 damage or rent reduction by small business landlords ("Good Landlords"), the local resource facility tax imposed on the taxable property of the exempted property tax can also be exempted until the end of this year.

For individuals facing economic difficulties due to COVID-19, and companies and small business owners affected by gathering bans or business restrictions, extensions of deadlines (up to 6 months, maximum 1 year), collection deferrals, and tax audit suspensions will continue to be promoted.

Last year, the province exempted a total of 2.01 billion KRW in local taxes across 650,000 cases for taxpayers struggling due to COVID-19, and provided local tax revenue support in about 59,000 cases for deadline extensions, collection deferrals, and tax audit suspensions.

Governor Lee Cheol-woo said, “We will actively seek ways to expand and extend local tax support to minimize COVID-19 damage and take the lead in preparing livelihood support measures so that we can overcome these difficult times together.”

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