Credit: Public domain.
Yoon eked out the narrowest victory in the history of South Korean presidential elections by appealing to grievances over real estate taxes. Perhaps unsurprisingly, faced with his lowest approval ratings yet, he is going back to the same wellspring. On June 17, Presidential Secretary of Policy Seong Tae-yun 성태윤 대통령실 정책실장 said in an interview that the presidential office will push to reduce the top estate tax rate from 50% to 30%. Seong also said the Yoon administration will abolish the comprehensive real estate tax 종합부동산세, a long-time bete noire of Seoul’s property owners. (See previous coverage, “Real Estate Tax Blues Played on World’s Tiniest Violin.”)
The proposed tax cuts come amid plummeting tax receipts, as South Korea’s sluggish economy has reduced the country’s tax base more severely than projected by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance 기획재정부. (See previous coverage, “Tax Receipts Plummet.”) Tax revenues have fallen so sharply that some local governments are running out of money. In a press conference held later the same day, Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok 최상목 기획재정부 장관 pumped the brakes on Seong’s announcement, saying that while he supported Seong’s announcement, it was simply a “general statement” rather than a concrete near-term initiative.
