South Korea's Presidential Office considers abolishing comprehensive real estate tax and lowering the maximum inheritance tax rate to 30%

On the 16th, the South Korean Presidential Office announced, "We are currently reviewing proposals for reform of the comprehensive real estate tax system and inheritance tax system from various perspectives."
According to an official announcement from the Press Secretary's Office, "The comprehensive real estate tax will be effectively abolished, and the highest inheritance tax rate will be reduced from 50% to 30%.
The proposal to lower the tax rate is one of several reform plans," he said. "Specific reform plans will be considered in terms of tax revenue, appropriate tax burden levels, and the impact on local government finances."
The decision will be made after July after hearing the opinions of the government. On the same day, Song Tae-yoon, the presidential office's chief policy clerk, appeared on the KBS program "Sunday Diagnosis" and said that the comprehensive real estate tax
"Basically, the effect of the tax on stabilizing housing prices is negligible. On the other hand, there is a strong tendency for the tax burden to be passed on to tenants, so it needs to be abolished or significantly reformed," he said.
"The comprehensive real estate tax is used as a source of revenue for local governments, but in reality, the property tax fulfills that role. Therefore, it is desirable to eliminate the problem of double taxation by integrating it into the property tax."
He proposed abolishing the comprehensive real estate tax and integrating it into the property tax. The comprehensive real estate tax should be abolished for ordinary homeowners and multi-homeowners whose total home value is relatively low, while the very
The government plans to require those who own only one expensive home, as well as those who own multiple homes with a very high total value, to pay a comprehensive real estate tax.
"Affordable homeowners are also rental providers, so it's undesirable for the tax burden on them to be excessively high. In fact, it could shrink rental supply," he said.
Regarding inheritance tax, he emphasized that "the inheritance tax rate should be lowered to the OECD average level, and then changed to an inheritance tax and capital gains tax."
The top tax rate is 60% including the surcharge for major shareholders, and 50% excluding the surcharge for major shareholders, which is considered to be very high compared to other countries.
"First of all, it needs to be lowered to around 30 percent," he said. "It needs to be at a level where an excessive inheritance tax burden is not imposed when inheriting an apartment in Seoul."
Regarding the financial investment tax, he said, "The government's opinion is to abolish it, and we will make every effort to abolish it."
In response to the criticism that his stance on fiscal soundness is inconsistent with his tax cut policy, he said, "The overall distortion of economic activity is large, but the tax revenue effect is not large.
"We will be targeting real estate taxes and inheritance taxes," he explained. Regarding the establishment of the Low Birthrate Planning Department, he said, "We are considering the name 'Population Strategy Planning Department' as a tentative name."
"This department will oversee strategies for population and low birthrate measures, just like the former Economic Planning Board, and will formulate comprehensive plans. It will also be involved in budget compilation and will play a role as a comprehensive planning and strategy department, conducting policy research and evaluation.
We plan to make sure we do our share," he said.