Exemption of 'School Site Charges' for Construction of Small Housing Complexes Under 60㎡

The exemption targets for school site charges will be expanded to include small housing units under 60㎡ in addition to existing rental housing, and the exemption for airport departure charges will be extended to children under six years old.

On the 17th, the government held an emergency economic ministers' meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho to discuss improvement measures for the charge system. Charges are monetary payment obligations imposed by law related to specific public interest projects and differ from taxes. They are allocated to special accounts, funds, and other revenues of central government ministries or local governments and used as project expenses in related fields.

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According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, there are currently 90 charges in operation, of which 67 (74%) have been imposed for over 20 years. As of the end of 2021, the scale of charge operations was 21.4 trillion won, approximately 1% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and has been managed and maintained stably.

The government has selected 23 charges out of the 90 that impose burdens on corporate management or citizens' lives or cause unnecessary administrative costs for improvement. First, the exemption targets for school site charges imposed on housing construction projects with 100 or more units and land development businesses will be expanded to include small urban-type residential units under 60㎡ in addition to rental housing.

The waste disposal charge imposed when recyclable household waste is disposed of by incineration or landfill instead of recycling will have its reduction rate differential segments subdivided. The current two-tier differential segments based on sales revenue?under 1 billion won and between 1 billion and 12 billion won?will be divided into six tiers.

The exemption target for departure charges imposed when leaving the country through airports will be expanded from under two years old to under six years old, the same as ports. Additionally, charges with the nature of deposits, fees, or association dues will be excluded from management, and charges with the same imposition targets or purposes will be integrated to reduce administrative costs.

Charges for forest restoration projects with the nature of deposits and one-time electricity user charges imposed in rural areas with the nature of fees will be excluded from management. Charges related to the recycling and collection of electrical and electronic products are also included in the improvement targets.

The government will also supplement individual charge laws to establish legal grounds for objection procedures and codify regulations on surcharge imposition. The charge management law will be revised to clarify the obligation to pay charges, and the role of the charge operation review committee will be strengthened.

The government plans to establish detailed plans by ministry related to these maintenance measures and submit and report them to the charge operation review committee by July this year. It will monitor future progress, discover additional improvement measures, and promote related research projects.

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