Publishers Association: "Tax Credit for Book Production Costs Needed... A Forum for Dialogue Must Be Established"

The Korea Publishers Association, composed of book publishers, argued on the 31st that a 'tax credit for book production costs' should be introduced to overcome the crisis in the publishing industry and restore the publishing ecosystem.

In a statement released that day, the Publishers Association pointed out that the 2023 tax reform bill did not include tax and financial support systems for the publishing business, highlighting the "severe difficulties faced by the publishing industry and the issue of fairness compared to the expanded tax credit for video content production costs." According to the '2023 Tax Reform Bill,' the tax credit rate for video content production costs has been expanded from 3% to 5% for large corporations, 7% to 19% for mid-sized companies, and 10% to 15% for small and medium enterprises.

Citizens are cooling off from the heat at Kyobo Bookstore Gwanghwamun Branch in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

They added, "The globalization of K content cannot be achieved by revitalizing only one sector of the industry, and the publishing industry at the center must survive so that related cultural industries such as movies and dramas, which use books as original scripts, can all advance globally together," urging, "The Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism should promptly prepare tax support measures for the publishing industry to foster the growth of K-books."

Additionally, they proposed ▲ a comprehensive government-level plan to address the issue of illegal copying and leakage of digital e-book files ▲ an increase in the budget to support the publishing industry as measures to overcome the crisis in the publishing sector.

Furthermore, addressing the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, they stated, "We hope to create a forum for discussion to protect and nurture the publishing industry, including measures for tax support for publishing, which is currently excluded from cultural policies. We once again urge holding a meeting with publishers as soon as possible."

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