[Anchor]
Let us now look at the political reactions to the latest tax revision plan. The People Power Party strongly criticized the measures, arguing that they ultimately amount to higher taxes. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party has yet to issue an official stance, seemingly gauging public sentiment with caution.
Reporting from Park Chan-beom.
[Reporter]
The People Power Party harshly dismissed the government's tax revision plan as the "worst ever," claiming it only increases the total tax burden on citizens.
Representative Jang Dong-hyeok denounced the plan as "tax extortion to reclaim distributed funds." In addition, People Power Party members of the National Assembly's Finance and Economy Committee labeled it a "tax revision of exorbitant exploitation," accusing the government of harshly squeezing wealth from the public.
[Bae Joon-young / People Power Party Secretary of the National Assembly Finance and Economy Committee: The government, which is collecting the largest-ever surplus tax revenue due to the semiconductor boom, actually plans to rake in an additional 3.4 trillion won in taxpayers' money. In short, it is a 'shut up and pay taxes' policy.]
The People Power Party predicted that the plan to tighten the comprehensive real estate holding tax on multiple homeowners and non-resident single homeowners would cause the most severe side effects, warning that the tax burden would be passed on to tenants and lead to higher jeonse and monthly rent prices.
In particular, they argued that including non-resident single homeowners in the strengthened comprehensive real estate tax scheme suppresses even the freedom of single-home owners to relocate.
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The Democratic Party did not release a separate official commentary today (August 3), the day the revision plan was announced, but its floor leadership is scheduled to state its position tomorrow.
A member of the Democratic Party leadership told SBS, "Since tax revisions are a sensitive issue, we are carefully discussing our official stance today."
It appears they are organizing their position while observing public sentiment trends regarding the new reform package.
[Kang Jun-hyeon / Senior Spokesperson of the Democratic Party: The party leadership has decided to focus on closely monitoring people's livelihoods, the asset market, and real estate issues while preparing alternatives.]
Both the ruling and opposition parties are on high alert, as the direction of public sentiment following this real estate tax reform is a critical variable that could dictate political momentum as well as upcoming elections.
(Video by Lee Seung-hwan and Shin Dong-hwan | Video Editing by Lee Seung-hee)
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