Departure Payment and Passport Issuance Fee Reduced by 3,000 Won Starting July

Follow-up Measures for Contribution Fee Adjustment
13 Enforcement Decree Amendments Approved at Cabinet Meeting

From now on, the fees paid when departing through airports and when issuing passports will each be reduced by 3,000 KRW. The 'Environmental Improvement Charge' imposed on owners of diesel vehicles will be reduced by 50% only for small business owners. To ease the burden on small and medium-sized enterprises, the sales threshold for exemption from the 'Waste Disposal Charge' will be raised from 60 billion KRW to 100 billion KRW.

On the 28th, the Ministry of Economy and Finance announced that 13 enforcement ordinances, including the 'Partial Amendment of the Enforcement Decree of the Electric Utility Act,' were deliberated and approved at the Cabinet meeting and will be enforced starting July 1. This amendment follows the 'Measures to Organize Charges and Strengthen Management Systems' announced at the Emergency Economic and Livelihood Meeting in March and includes exemption details for 12 out of the current 91 charges.

First, the largest charge, the 'Electric Power Industry Infrastructure Fund Charge,' will have its levy rate lowered from the current 3.7% to 3.2% in July this year, and further reduced to 2.7% by July next year. The 'Natural Gas Import Levy' will also be temporarily reduced by 30% for one year to ease the burden of gas price increases.

The 'Departure Fee' and 'International Exchange Contribution,' introduced when overseas travel was not yet widespread, will also be reduced. The 10,000 KRW departure fee (Tourism Fund) charged at airport departures will be lowered by 3,000 KRW to 7,000 KRW, and the exemption target will be expanded from under 2 years old to under 12 years old. The International Exchange Contribution paid when issuing passports will be reduced by 3,000 KRW for multiple-entry passports, while single-entry passports and travel certificates will be exempted. Additionally, the 'Automobile Accident Victim Support Contribution,' included in car insurance premiums, will be reduced by 50% for three years.

Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Minister of Economy and Finance, is giving a briefing on the "Comprehensive Support Plan for the Semiconductor Ecosystem" at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 23rd. From the left are Kim Dong-il, Director General of the Budget Office at the Ministry of Economy and Finance; Han Hwa-jin, Minister of Environment; Lee Jong-ho, Minister of Science and ICT; Deputy Prime Minister Choi; Ahn Deok-geun, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy; Park Sang-woo, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport; and Kim Joo-hyun, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

The Environmental Improvement Charge, introduced decades ago, will also be reduced. To ease the burden on small business owners, the charge imposed on livelihood cargo trucks (under 3000cc and with a loading capacity of 800kg or more) will be cut by 50%, and the scope of small and medium-sized enterprises eligible for exemption from the Waste Disposal Charge will be expanded by raising the annual sales threshold from 60 billion KRW to 100 billion KRW, reducing the burden on small companies. Furthermore, gum, which contains no harmful substances and can be incinerated but has been uniformly charged 1.8% of the sales price, will be excluded from the 'Waste Disposal Charge' target.

The levy rate for the 'Farmland Conservation Charge,' paid when converting farmland to other uses, will be reduced from 30% to 20% of the individually announced land price, but only in non-agricultural promotion areas. The exemption targets for the 'Substitute Forest Resource Creation Fee,' imposed in cases such as mountain land conversion, will also be expanded.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance explained, "To accelerate the tangible effects of charge reductions, the amendment to the enforcement decree will be implemented from July 1, and a bill to abolish 18 charges will be submitted to the National Assembly in the second half of this year."