Lee Geonhee's Asset Value Approximately 18 Trillion Won... Inheritance Tax is 12 Trillion Won
Samsung Family Pays Half Through Annual Installment Payment System
Hong Ra-hee, former director of the Leeum Museum of Art; Lee Boo-jin, president of Hotel Shilla; and Lee Seo-hyun, chairperson of the Samsung Welfare Foundation, reportedly took out stock-backed loans totaling 4.0781 trillion KRW to pay the inheritance tax for the late Lee Kun-hee, former chairman of Samsung.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 6th, former director Hong took out a stock-backed loan of 1.4 trillion KRW, president Lee borrowed 517 billion KRW, and chairperson Lee secured 190 billion KRW in loans.
Former Leeum Museum Director Hong Ra-hee (center), Hotel Shilla President Lee Boo-jin (right), and Samsung Welfare Foundation Chairperson Lee Seo-hyun (left) are entering the celebration dinner for the 25th Ho-Am Prize held at Shilla Hotel in Jangchung-dong, Seoul, on the afternoon of June 1, 2015. [Photo by Yonhap News]
The reason the Samsung family increased the loan amount is due to the need to pay inheritance taxes exceeding 12 trillion KRW. The value of the shares in affiliates left by Chairman Lee is 18.9633 trillion KRW, with the inheritance tax amounting to 11.04 trillion KRW. The remaining inheritance tax is levied on real estate such as the Everland site and pensions. The bereaved family has been using the installment payment system to pay the inheritance tax in installments over five years starting from April 2021. They have paid over 6 trillion KRW so far. It is reported that they must pay an additional 6 trillion KRW over the next three years.
With recent soaring interest rates, the interest amount they have to pay has also increased. The interest rate on the stock-backed loans taken by the three Samsung family women is in the 5% range, with estimated annual interest exceeding 200 billion KRW. The bereaved family even sold some affiliate stocks to secure funds for the inheritance tax.
Former director Hong sold about 20 million shares of Samsung Electronics, president Lee sold about 1.5 million shares of Samsung SDS, and chairperson Lee sold all 3 million shares of Samsung SDS and 3.5 million shares of Samsung Life Insurance to cover the inheritance tax.
The verification of the inheritance tax filing was handled by the Seoul Regional Tax Office Investigation Division 4. Generally, the review of inheritance tax filings is under the jurisdiction of the heir’s local tax office or the asset taxation department of the regional office (Seoul Regional Tax Office Investigation Division 3), but inheritance cases involving the top 100 companies are verified by Investigation Division 4.
Inheritance tax specialists expect that although the National Tax Service’s review period for inheritance tax filings is nine months, the inheritance tax for Lee Kun-hee may take longer due to the enormous asset size and tax amount involved.
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