President Yoon Seok-yeol's mother-in-law wins acquisition tax cancellation lawsuit…Court says "District office did not submit documents"

Choi Eun-soon, the mother-in-law of President Yoon Seok-yeol, who was indicted on charges including forgery of balance certificates related to land in Dochon-dong, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province, won an administrative lawsuit she filed claiming that the billion-won acquisition tax imposed by the district office was unjust.

Choi Eun-soon, mother-in-law of President Yoon Suk-yeol [Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the legal community on the 9th, the Administrative Division 1 of Suwon District Court (Chief Judge Kwak Hyung-seop) ruled in favor of Choi in the lawsuit she filed last August against the head of Jungwon District Office in Seongnam-si to cancel the imposition of acquisition tax and other charges. The court stated, "Jungwon District, which bears the burden of proof, did not submit any evidence," and judged that the plaintiff, Choi, has no obligation to pay the acquisition tax.

In August 2020, Jungwon District imposed acquisition tax of about 130 million won, local education tax of about 12 million won, and special rural tax of about 6.4 million won on Choi, claiming that after she effectively acquired the land share in Dochon-dong, a third party had registered the title in trust with international multimodal transport company A to evade local taxes through fraud or other illicit acts. Earlier, in April 2020, the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office notified Jungwon District that Choi had violated the Act on Real Name Registration of Real Estate.

Choi filed a tax appeal with the Tax Tribunal in September of the same year but, after receiving a dismissal decision in May last year, she filed an administrative lawsuit.

The court acknowledged that "the plaintiff violated the Act on Real Name Registration of Real Estate by registering the land share in trust to company A," but judged it to be a 'contractual title trust' for which Choi has no tax payment obligation, and ruled to cancel Jungwon District's imposition of acquisition tax and other charges. Jungwon District Office is reportedly reviewing whether to appeal.

In March 2021, Choi also filed a lawsuit against Jungwon District Office to cancel the imposition of a fine of about 2.73 billion won, lost in the first trial, and is currently undergoing an appeal.