Gov't pushing to give tax audit waivers to new growth industries

SEOUL, May 20 (Yonhap) -- The government is planning to give tax audit waivers to
so-called new growth industries that could help fuel South Korea's future
economic expansion, a senior official said Wednesday.

Knowledge Economy Minister Lee Youn-ho told businessmen at a gathering in Incheon
that talks are underway with the finance and public administration ministries to
give benefits to robotics, software, biotech and reusable energy companies.
Tax audits force companies to divert manpower and resources to provide
documentation on earnings, spending and corporate investments that can adversely
affect operations particularly in small-sized enterprises.
The government regularly checks the tax records of companies, but this can be
deferred in some cases.
The minister also told entrepreneurs that Seoul plans to make available a 750
billion won (US$598 million) new growth industry development and "smart project"
support funds to eligible companies.
"New growth industries are fundamentally high-risk high-return operations that
also require large sums of seed money for facility investments," he said, adding
that a detailed government masterplan to build up future-oriented business areas
will be announced within the month.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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