"Born With 100 Million Won in the Bank"... 734 'Golden Spoon' Babies at Age Zero Last Year

734 Cases of Gifts to Newborns, Totaling 67.1 Billion Won

Last year, more than 700 cases were recorded in which babies less than a year old inherited assets worth nearly 100 million won on average.

According to data on gift tax decisions submitted by the National Tax Service to Assemblyman Park Sunghoon of the National Assembly’s Strategy and Finance Committee on September 4, 2024, there were 734 cases of gifts made to zero-year-old babies, totaling 67.1 billion won. This amounts to an average of 91.41 million won per recipient. Compared to the previous year (636 cases, 61.5 billion won), the number of cases increased by 98 and the total value of gifted assets rose by 5.6 billion won.

The value of assets gifted to zero-year-olds was around 9.1 billion won in 2020, but surged to 80.6 billion won in 2021 and 82.5 billion won in 2022 due to the sharp rise in asset prices during the COVID-19 period. It then dropped to 61.5 billion won in 2023, before increasing again last year.

By asset type, financial assets accounted for the largest portion, with 554 cases totaling 39 billion won. This is an increase of 102 cases and 10.1 billion won compared to 2023 (452 cases, 28.9 billion won). This was followed by marketable securities (156 cases, 18.6 billion won), land (20 cases, 2.6 billion won), and buildings (12 cases, 2.6 billion won).

By age, the average amount gifted per person was highest at age 16, just before adulthood, at 147.19 million won. This was followed by age 17 (110.63 million won), age 18 (110.11 million won), age 12 (94.46 million won), and age 13 (94.18 million won). Zero-year-olds ranked fifth in terms of average gift size.

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In terms of the number of cases, 11-year-olds received the most gifts with 903 cases, followed by 10-year-olds (892 cases), 12-year-olds (879 cases), 16-year-olds and 13-year-olds (859 cases each), and 9-year-olds (851 cases).

Last year, the total number of gifts made to minors (ages 0 to 18) was 14,271, amounting to 1.2382 trillion won. The average per person was 87.09 million won. Compared to the previous year (14,094 cases, 1.5803 trillion won), the number of cases increased, but the total value of assets gifted decreased by 342.1 billion won.

Assemblyman Park emphasized, "It is necessary to closely examine loopholes, expedient gifts, or tax evasion that may occur in the process of gifting assets to young children without fulfilling proper tax obligations," adding, "Tax authorities should strengthen post-management and tax audits to strictly address the transfer of wealth without tax burdens."