Im Kwang-hyun of the opposition criticizes government's inheritance tax plan as "benefiting only the wealthy"

Im Kwang-hyun, Democratic Party of Korea. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Im Gwang-hyun, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized the Ministry of Economy and Finance's announcement of the introduction of an inheritance acquisition tax on the 12th, saying, "The benefits will only go to the wealthy."

At a National Assembly press conference that day, Rep. Im said, "Based on a simulation of the Ministry of Economy and Finance's plan assuming one spouse and one child, there is no benefit from the introduction of the inheritance acquisition tax for ordinary people with inherited assets of 5 billion won or less and one child, but from high-net-worth individuals above that, inheritance tax decreases and they benefit."

Rep. Im pointed out, "The government did not even mention the decrease in tax revenue due to the introduction of the inheritance acquisition tax," and asked, "Are they hiding another tax cut for the rich?"

Earlier, the Ministry of Economy and Finance announced a plan to reform the inheritance tax from the current 'inheritance tax' to an 'inheritance acquisition tax.' The main point is that instead of calculating the tax amount based on the total inherited property as it is now, each individual heir will be taxed on the property they inherit.

The government expects that if the law is amended in the National Assembly within this year, the tax system can be reorganized over about two years and implemented from 2028.

Regarding this, Rep. Im explained, "It is not too late to take time to discuss the transition to the inheritance acquisition tax."

Rep. Im emphasized, "Currently, there are middle-class people who have to sell their homes because of inheritance tax," and urged, "The government should cooperate promptly to process the Democratic Party's proposal to adjust the spouse deduction to 1 billion won and the blanket deduction to 800 million won to alleviate the tax burden on the middle class."

He also urged, "The Ministry of Economy and Finance, which has the constitutional authority to prepare the budget, should start with submitting a supplementary budget," and called for "realistic proposals starting with the supplementary budget."

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