Conservatives should refrain from false assertions
Some media outlets, business associations and the main opposition Liberty Korea Party have become the targets of criticism by experts. The reason: These "conservatives," while attempting to abolish the inheritance tax, or lower the rate sharply, are misleading the public with distorted facts and false assertions.
"Some conservative groups are distorting facts and circulating fake news by, for instance, saying, 'inheritance tax is predatory and can nationalize business enterprises,'" the Solidarity for Economic Reform said in a report released Monday. It then gave an item-by-item rebuttal of the conservatives' claim that "many business owners give up bequeathing their companies because of the death tax," citing related statistics, international comparisons and case analyses.
The report maintained that only a small number of people pay inheritance tax and Korea's tax rate is not that high. According to data from the National Tax Service (NTS), 6,986 people paid inheritance tax in 2017, 3.1 percent of heirs and heiresses. Notably, the tax authorities apply the top rate of 50 percent to only 0.18 percent of those inheriting 3 billion won ($2.64 million) or more.
Chaebul.com, which chases the nation's family-controlled conglomerates, also noted the effective rate of inheritance tax for people who receive 50 billion won or more fell steeply, from 48.3 percent in 2012 to 32.3 percent, based on its analysis of other NTS data. The sharp drop was due mainly to the nearly 10-fold increase in deductions and exemptions, from 34.3 billion won in 2012 to 318.4 billion won in 2016, granted in "corporate inheritance" cases.
Inheritance tax is more justifiable than most other taxes as it is levied on assets handed over from parents, not those made by one's own efforts. If the nation does away with the death tax or lowers its rate, the already severe wealth gap will widen even further. If the financial inequity becomes fixed through the tax-free inheritance of wealth, upward mobility will also become next to impossible, weakening social vitality.
The death tax is the leverage that helps to ease excessive concentration and inheritance of wealth; and so conservative groups should stop spreading fake news concerning it.
Some media outlets, business associations and the main opposition Liberty Korea Party have become the targets of criticism by experts. The reason: These "conservatives," while attempting to abolish the inheritance tax, or lower the rate sharply, are misleading the public with distorted facts and false assertions.
"Some conservative groups are distorting facts and circulating fake news by, for instance, saying, 'inheritance tax is predatory and can nationalize business enterprises,'" the Solidarity for Economic Reform said in a report released Monday. It then gave an item-by-item rebuttal of the conservatives' claim that "many business owners give up bequeathing their companies because of the death tax," citing related statistics, international comparisons and case analyses.
The report maintained that only a small number of people pay inheritance tax and Korea's tax rate is not that high. According to data from the National Tax Service (NTS), 6,986 people paid inheritance tax in 2017, 3.1 percent of heirs and heiresses. Notably, the tax authorities apply the top rate of 50 percent to only 0.18 percent of those inheriting 3 billion won ($2.64 million) or more.
Chaebul.com, which chases the nation's family-controlled conglomerates, also noted the effective rate of inheritance tax for people who receive 50 billion won or more fell steeply, from 48.3 percent in 2012 to 32.3 percent, based on its analysis of other NTS data. The sharp drop was due mainly to the nearly 10-fold increase in deductions and exemptions, from 34.3 billion won in 2012 to 318.4 billion won in 2016, granted in "corporate inheritance" cases.
Inheritance tax is more justifiable than most other taxes as it is levied on assets handed over from parents, not those made by one's own efforts. If the nation does away with the death tax or lowers its rate, the already severe wealth gap will widen even further. If the financial inequity becomes fixed through the tax-free inheritance of wealth, upward mobility will also become next to impossible, weakening social vitality.
The death tax is the leverage that helps to ease excessive concentration and inheritance of wealth; and so conservative groups should stop spreading fake news concerning it.
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