Seoul City Begins Call for Hometown Love Donation Return Gifts and Suppliers

New Return Gifts Scheduled to Be Offered Before Seol Holiday

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] Starting from the new year, the Hometown Love Donation System is being implemented across 243 local governments nationwide, and Seoul City announced on the 6th that it is currently accepting applications for the selection of return gifts and suppliers.

The Hometown Love Donation System allows individuals to donate to local governments (metropolitan or basic) other than their place of residence. The local governments then use the donated funds to create a Hometown Love Fund, which can be used to support vulnerable groups, cultural and artistic projects, and other initiatives to improve residents' welfare.

Individuals can donate up to 5 million KRW annually and receive return gifts such as local specialties within 30% of the donation amount. Additionally, donations of 100,000 KRW or less are fully tax-deductible, and for amounts exceeding that, a 16.5% tax credit is applied.

Seoul City completed the enactment of the "Ordinance on the Collection and Operation of Hometown Love Donations in Seoul" on the 22nd of last month after approval by the city council, thereby establishing the institutional foundation for implementing the Hometown Love Donation System.

Alongside this, since the second half of last year, Seoul City has been promoting the selection of unique return gifts that can satisfy the diverse demands of donors. Through demand surveys of related organizations such as departments, headquarters, bureaus, and investment-funded institutions, surveys on awareness and preferences regarding the Hometown Love Donation System, and case studies from other regions, a pool of candidate return gifts was established and finalized through the Return Gift Selection Committee.

The finalized return gift items are ▲ (local gift certificate category) Seoul Love Gift Certificate ▲ (culture and tourism service category) admission tickets ▲ (manufactured goods category) Seoul symbolic crafts ▲ (agricultural and food products category) agricultural products.

Currently (until the 13th), applications are being accepted for the selection of return gifts and suppliers corresponding to ▲ admission tickets ▲ Seoul symbolic crafts ▲ agricultural products. After the application period ends, the Return Gift Selection Committee will convene on the 18th to select suppliers, and new return gifts other than the existing Seoul Love Gift Certificate will be provided starting from the 20th, before the Lunar New Year holiday.

Kang Jinyong, Seoul City's Finance Officer, stated, "Return gifts are a token of gratitude to the citizens who have contributed to the Hometown Love Donations, and we expect them to contribute to the virtuous cycle of the local economy. We will select high-quality return gifts that represent Seoul and meet citizens' demands, as well as capable suppliers, to activate Hometown Love Donations."