ID :
30679
Mon, 11/17/2008 - 11:13
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/30679
The shortlink copeid
Ruling party to keep minimum real estate tax base
SEOUL, Nov. 17 (Yonhap) -- The conservative ruling party has decided to keep the
minimum base on the country's real estate tax at 600 million won (US$427,000) to
prevent too much leniency toward owners of expensive homes, officials said
Monday.
The decision by the Grand National Party (GNP) follows a recent Constitutional
Court ruling that partly struck down a progressive tax law on high-end
homeowners.
The real estate tax, levied in addition to regular property taxes on high-value
homes, was first introduced in 2005 under the former Roh Moo-hyun administration
and was intended as a means to help redistribute the nation's wealth. The
incumbent government has long attempted to revamp the tax, seeing it as a
punitive measure against the wealthy that holds back the country's economic
revitalization.
The top tribunal's ruling has opened the way for the government to refund a
significant portion of the special tax and gives momentum to the Lee Myung-bak
government's hopes of revising or even scrapping the system entirely.
"The court gave us nearly a year to revise the system, but I don't see why we
should put off the process," GNP's chief policymaker Yim Tae-hee told reporters
Monday.
While keeping the 600 million won tax bar -- rewriting a pending government bill
that seeks to raise the bar to 900 million won -- the ruling party has decided to
lower the tax rate to 0.5-1 percent from the current 1-3 percent.
Even under such a standard, only couples owning properties worth up to 1.2
billion won, or 600 million won each, will be subject to the tax, according to
the Constitutional Court verdict last week. The court had ruled unconstitutional
part of the real estate tax law that levies tax based on the total value of
properties owned by a household rather than by individuals, saying it is
discriminatory against married couples.
Of the 379,000 people who paid the real estate tax last year, only 147,000, or 38
percent, owned just one residence, while 61,000 owned more than five, according
to government data.
hayney@yna.co.kr
(END)
minimum base on the country's real estate tax at 600 million won (US$427,000) to
prevent too much leniency toward owners of expensive homes, officials said
Monday.
The decision by the Grand National Party (GNP) follows a recent Constitutional
Court ruling that partly struck down a progressive tax law on high-end
homeowners.
The real estate tax, levied in addition to regular property taxes on high-value
homes, was first introduced in 2005 under the former Roh Moo-hyun administration
and was intended as a means to help redistribute the nation's wealth. The
incumbent government has long attempted to revamp the tax, seeing it as a
punitive measure against the wealthy that holds back the country's economic
revitalization.
The top tribunal's ruling has opened the way for the government to refund a
significant portion of the special tax and gives momentum to the Lee Myung-bak
government's hopes of revising or even scrapping the system entirely.
"The court gave us nearly a year to revise the system, but I don't see why we
should put off the process," GNP's chief policymaker Yim Tae-hee told reporters
Monday.
While keeping the 600 million won tax bar -- rewriting a pending government bill
that seeks to raise the bar to 900 million won -- the ruling party has decided to
lower the tax rate to 0.5-1 percent from the current 1-3 percent.
Even under such a standard, only couples owning properties worth up to 1.2
billion won, or 600 million won each, will be subject to the tax, according to
the Constitutional Court verdict last week. The court had ruled unconstitutional
part of the real estate tax law that levies tax based on the total value of
properties owned by a household rather than by individuals, saying it is
discriminatory against married couples.
Of the 379,000 people who paid the real estate tax last year, only 147,000, or 38
percent, owned just one residence, while 61,000 owned more than five, according
to government data.
hayney@yna.co.kr
(END)
