Lee Dal-hee: "Government to Expand Scope and Benefits of Second Home Project... Must Revitalize Local Economy"

Seminar Held at National Assembly to Discuss Tax Reform Plans
Government Proposal Limited, Excluding Capital Region and Metropolitan Cities
Lee: "Expansion of Daytime Population Inflow → Increase in Asset Value"

A claim has been raised in the National Assembly that a tax reform plan with broader support than the current system is needed to promote the government's ongoing 'Second Home' initiative.

Lee Dal-hee, a member of the People Power Party and the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, held a seminar on the morning of the 22nd at the National Assembly on the theme of 'Tax Reform Measures to Activate Second Homes in Population Declining Areas.' The core of the second home tax reform plan is a special bill proposing that existing single-homeowners who acquire a second home in population declining areas receive the same tax benefits as single-homeowners with one household and one home.

Lee stated that additional benefits should be provided to attract urban populations. He said, "The extinction of local areas due to population decline is an urgent task that must be addressed first at the national level for balanced national development," adding, "We hope to protect the local economy by expanding the influx of living populations and increasing asset values through revitalizing real estate transactions."

The government is already implementing policies to promote second homes. Dr. Hong Geun-seok of the Korea Institute of Local Administration, who presented at the seminar, compared the tax reform plan announced by the Ministry of Economy and Finance in April with the Comprehensive Real Estate Tax Act and Restriction of Special Taxation Act amendments proposed by Lee Dal-hee. The Ministry of Economy and Finance's plan excluded most benefits for the metropolitan area, metropolitan cities, and special autonomous cities. Lee's proposed amendments expanded benefits to all population declining areas and excluded local taxes such as property tax from the special tax items, showing differences. Assemblyman Bae Jun-young also proposed a similar bill on the 9th.

The second home tax reform also aims to expand the living population in population declining areas. Park Jin-seok, Director of the Balanced Development System Division at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said, "I agree on the necessity of introducing related systems to attract living populations," and added, "As the ministry overseeing local extinction, we will actively support the efficient execution of the Local Extinction Response Fund and the activation of private investment resulting from it." Jeong Sang-hyun, Director of the Local Era Bureau of Gyeongsangbuk-do, cited Gyeongbuk's case and emphasized, "Along with a paradigm shift in local population policies, excessively proactive tax reductions and special policies are necessary." On the other hand, Kim Hyun-ah, a research fellow at the Korea Institute of Public Finance, supports the introduction of second homes but analyzed that its effectiveness will be very limited because tax support is already widely provided.

Starting with this seminar, Lee plans to hold a series of expert relay discussions sequentially to explore strategies to respond to local extinction.