"No Way"… Ruling and Opposition Parties, No One Satisfied with Corporate Tax Act Passage

Corporate Tax Law Passed in Plenary Session with 1% Point Reduction by Tax Category
Justice Party Points Out "Violation of Tax Legality Principle"
Questions Raised About the Effect of Corporate Tax Cut

[Asia Economy reporters Naju-seok and Park Joon-yi] The amendment to the Corporate Tax Act to reduce the tax rate by 1 percentage point for each taxable income bracket passed the plenary session on the 23rd. Lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties engaged in debates supporting and opposing the bill, but those who spoke publicly expressed a unanimous sentiment of "dissatisfaction." During the voting process, confusion arose as lawmakers frequently changed their votes between support, opposition, and abstention.

In the plenary session that day, the Corporate Tax Act, which reduces the tax rate by 1 percentage point for each taxable income bracket, was approved with 203 votes in favor, 37 against, and 34 abstentions out of 274 total members. Due to lawmakers frequently reversing their votes during the process, it took some time to finalize the vote count.

Both ruling and opposition floor leaders expressed dissatisfaction with the corporate tax reduction plan, which was publicly disclosed the day before through their agreement.

People Power Party Floor Leader Joo Ho-young and Democratic Party Floor Leader Park Hong-geun are talking at the National Assembly plenary session on the night of the 23rd.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim Kyung-hyup, a member of the Democratic Party who spoke in opposition, criticized, "I generally wanted to respect the bipartisan agreement, but this is unacceptable," and called the claim that investment would increase "absurd." Kim argued that lowering corporate taxes only leads to companies accumulating retained earnings. He condemned, "The Yoon Seok-yeol administration claims fiscal soundness while cutting welfare and livelihood budgets, yet it plans to cut over 300 billion won in taxes for large corporations." Kim pointed out that the corporate tax cut would worsen fiscal soundness and have no effect on corporate investment.

Even Song Seok-jun, a member of the People Power Party who spoke in favor, criticized, saying, "Actually, I intended to speak in opposition regarding the Corporate Tax Act today, but after discussions with fellow lawmakers, I reluctantly decided to speak in favor." Song expressed dissatisfaction with the significant reduction in the tax cut scale compared to the government's original plan to lower the top corporate tax rate by 3 percentage points.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Lee Eun-joo, floor leader of the Justice Party, pointed out through her opposition debate that the corporate tax agreement undermined the principle of the rule of tax law. She said, "The National Assembly has never properly discussed this plan to reduce the tax rate by 1 percentage point for each taxable income bracket," adding, "This plan, or even similar ones, have never been mentioned in the relevant standing committee, the Finance and Economy Committee, the Tax Subcommittee, or various forums."

She stated, "The constitutional and democratic principle of the rule of tax law does not merely mean a procedure to vote in the legislature, but requires citizen representatives to create public interest alternatives through sufficient debate and adjustment on tax issues with conflicting interests. This amendment appeared like a goblin, threatening democracy and constitutional spirit, and insulting our National Assembly."

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