Yoon Jae-ok "No Investment, So Raise Taxes? Single-Minded"
Hong Ik-pyo "Hasty Election Policy... Worsening Fiscal Soundness"
On the 14th, the ruling and opposition parties engaged in a fierce battle over major tax law amendments, including corporate tax and capital gains tax. Following intense struggles over next year's budget review, clashes erupted over the so-called 'Daejang-dong 5 Billion Club' and allegations of stock price manipulation involving Kim Geon-hee and Deutsche Motors, the double special investigation law, and the impeachment motion against Lee Dong-gwan, chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, expanding the frontlines of conflict.
Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, criticized the Democratic Party's corporate tax reform plan during a party strategy meeting held at the National Assembly that morning, saying, "It is truly childish and simplistic to propose raising taxes again just because companies did not invest despite tax cuts." The Democratic Party is reportedly pushing for a corporate tax system reform that expands the number of companies subject to the highest corporate tax rate by changing the corporate tax base brackets in the tax law amendment review starting on the 15th.
Floor leader Yoon said, "If the Democratic Party wants to cover the tax revenue shortfall, it should not clip the wings of companies with heavy taxation but rather give them bigger wings to earn more money and pay more taxes." He added, "If the Democratic Party is concerned about fiscal soundness, I hope they cooperate in legislating fiscal rules, a permanent measure, instead of patchwork treatments that harass companies."
In response, Hong Ik-pyo, floor leader of the Democratic Party, launched a counterattack criticizing the government's and ruling party's plans to ease the criteria for imposing capital gains tax on stocks and reduce inheritance tax burdens. At the Democratic Party's floor strategy meeting that morning, Hong said, "With the election about 150 days away, there is growing criticism and public concern that these election-driven, hasty policies are being pushed without sufficient discussion." He added, "The tax law amendment this year already includes significant tax cuts for the wealthy, and pushing for further tax cuts again, while claiming to pursue sound fiscal management, will actually undermine the tax base and worsen fiscal soundness."
He warned, "The government is violating even the basic principles of universal taxation without any plan to secure or expand the tax base," and said, "The Yoon Seok-yeol administration's tax cuts and austerity are the worst policy combination, and the government's tax cut stance will only repeat a vicious cycle of eroding the tax base and reducing expenditures due to insufficient revenue." He continued, "There are ways to restore damaged fiscal soundness other than cutting expenditures, such as expanding the tax base," supporting the Democratic Party's push to raise corporate taxes.
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