Discord on inheritance tax reform

[Anchor]

Leader of the Democratic party, Lee Jae-myung, who advocates 'pragmatism', has emphasized the need to expand the inheritance tax exemption limit.

The People Power Party criticized that none of Representative Lee's "right click policies" have been realized, and questioned who would believe him.

This is reporter Oh Dae-seong.

[Report]

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung mentioned the need to reform the inheritance tax to alleviate the tax burden on the middle class.

[Lee Jae-myung/Democratic Party Leader/August 2024: "If a family member suddenly dies and the other family members have to be evicted from the house due to taxes... Shouldn't we prevent such situations?"]

After holding a party-level discussion yesterday (Feb. 14), he reignited the discussion on inheritance tax reform by posting on social media today (Feb. 15).

His proposal is to raise the exemption limit. Currently, inheritance tax is exempt for estates valued at 1 billion won or less, but the plan is to expand this exemption to estates valued at 1.8 billion won or less.

Representative Lee claims that the majority of the public should benefit from this, and emphasized that there should be no tax cuts for the extremely-wealthy.

The People Power Party immediately countered, questioning who would believe the words of a leader who frequently lies.

They criticized that although Lee has already hinted at exceptions for the 52-hour workweek in the semiconductor industry and the withdrawal of the 250,000 won support for all citizens, nothing has been realized, calling his "right-click policies" a "fake click".

[Jo Yong-sul/People Power Party Spokesperson: "(The People Power Party) has argued that the absurdly high inheritance tax should be reformed. (Representative Lee) shifts the blame for the problems they created onto the People Power Party...."]

While both parties agree on the necessity of easing inheritance tax, there are significant differences regarding the methods.

Unlike the Democratic Party, which focuses solely on raising the exemption amount, the People Power Party is also considering lowering the highest inheritance tax rate, making it difficult for the two parties to find common ground.

This is KBS News, Oh Dae-seong.