From July, Movie Tickets Eligible for Income Tax Deduction... Will Popcorn and Goods Be Included?

Government Publishes Booklet on Policy Changes in Second Half of Year
Includes Strengthened Stalking Penalties and Operating Room CCTV Installation

From the second half of the year, movie ticket fees will be included in the cultural expense income deduction target.

Stalking offenders can be punished regardless of the victim's consent, and medical institutions performing surgery on unconscious patients must install CCTV in operating rooms.

[Photo by Pixabay]

On the 30th, the government published a booklet titled "Changes Starting from the Second Half of 2023," summarizing the systems and legal changes effective from the second half of the year. This booklet organizes 186 policies collected from 34 government agencies by sector, timing, and institution.

Starting July 1, income deduction benefits will be available when paying movie ticket fees with credit cards or other means. Previously, a 30% income deduction applied only to books, performances, art galleries, and museums, but movie ticket fees will now also be included.

The movie ticket fee income deduction applies to wage earners with a total salary of 70 million KRW or less who spend more than 25% of their total salary using credit cards or similar payment methods, the same as the existing cultural expense income deduction.

The deduction applies only to amounts spent on purchasing movie tickets; expenses for popcorn, food and beverages, and souvenirs are excluded from the income deduction scope.

From July 1, movie ticket fees will also be included in the income tax base.

From July, penalties for stalking offenders will be strengthened and victim protection expanded. Since stalking crimes often accompany violent crimes and have a high possibility of leading to heinous crimes, the aim is to strictly punish offenders and strongly protect victims from the stalking stage.

Accordingly, stalking offenders can be punished regardless of the victim's consent. Also, 'online stalking' acts such as distributing personal information online or impersonation are now punishable as stalking.

Stalking offenders are prohibited from approaching the victim's family or cohabitants, and the provisional measure period is extended from the current 2 months (maximum 6 months) to 3 months (maximum 9 months).

[Photo by Pixabay]

From September 25, medical institutions performing surgery on unconscious patients must install closed-circuit television (CCTV) inside operating rooms and record the surgery scenes upon request by the patient or guardian.

However, surgeries that are emergency operations where delay is dangerous or high-risk surgeries requiring active measures to save the patient's life are excluded.

Recorded footage can be viewed and provided only when requested by investigative agencies, courts, the Korea Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency, or when all subjects of the recording consent.

About 12,000 copies of the booklet will be distributed in early July to local governments, public libraries, and braille libraries. It can also be viewed online on the Ministry of Economy and Finance website (Policy > Policy Data > Publications).

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