Will tax reform plan be revised to ease concerns of retail investors?
Attention is now focused on whether the Lee Jae Myung government will reconsider a plan to lower the capital gains tax liability threshold for large shareholders from 5 billion won ($3.6 million) worth of stock to 1 billion won amid growing investor backlash, according to market watchers, Monday. Since Thursday when the Ministry of Economy and Finance announced the plan as part of the government’s tax reform measures, doubts have been mounting about the president’s policy goal of encouraging stock investment as an alternative to real estate in an effort to ease excessive capital inflows into the property market. Even within the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), calls to scrap the proposal are gaining momentum amid concerns over market confusion, with some lawmakers warning against inconsistent policy signals. In its announcement of tax reform measures, the finance ministry said the government plans to exclude cash dividends from high-dividend companies from comprehensive income taxation and instead tax them separately. It also proposed raising the securities transaction tax fro
