Lee Hyung-il Says 'Differentiation Based on Actual Residence Is Necessary'... 'Single-Homeowner Debate' Moves to National Assembly

[Anchor]

Nominee for Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Lee Hyung-il has made it clear regarding the tax amendment plan that there should be a distinction between residential and non-residential properties. However, calls for further modifications continue to emerge from the Democratic Party, which has taken over the tax amendment proposal.

Reporter Jeong Seong-jin has the details.

[Reporter]

Nominee for Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Lee Hyung-il, nominated as part of the economic leadership for the second term of the Lee Jae-myung administration, explained that the government's tax amendment plan was revised in less than a month to reflect criticisms that differentiating the comprehensive real estate holding tax for single-homeowners who do not reside in their homes was excessive.

However, he emphasized that a distinction was still made between resident and non-resident owners.

[Lee Hyung-il / Nominee for Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance : While we are easing the differential for single-homeowners based on actual residence versus non-residence, I believe some form of distinction must still be maintained, which is why we set the basic deduction for the comprehensive real estate holding tax at 1.4 billion won and 1.2 billion won.]

Nominee Lee stated that he plans to reflect rational points during the National Assembly's deliberation process if any arise, while also making it clear that the direction of the tax amendment plan is a housing market policy centered on actual residence.

[Lee Hyung-il / Nominee for Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance : Converting various deductions based on property ownership into deductions based on actual residence—we have maintained all of this as is and submitted it to the National Assembly.]

In the tax amendment plan finalized by the government, the basic deduction for the comprehensive real estate holding tax for non-resident single-homeowners was reverted from the initial 900 million won to the current 1.2 billion won, but the difference from the 1.4 billion won applied to resident single-homeowners was maintained.

The plan to reorganize the long-term holding special deduction for capital gains tax and the comprehensive real estate holding tax credits—which were previously granted based on the holding period—to focus on the residency period was also kept intact.

Although the government has taken a step back, critics within the Democratic Party argue that it is not enough.

[Oh Gi-hyung / Democratic Party Lawmaker (MBC Radio 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus') : We do not consider the party's requests to be fully reflected. Regarding the issue of non-resident single-households, we need to monitor the situation a bit more.]

During prior party-government consultations, the Democratic Party strongly conveyed to the government its stance that the distinction between resident and non-resident single-homeowners should be eliminated. As a result, debates between the government and the ruling party over the tax amendment during the parliamentary review process appear inevitable.

(Video reporting: Lee Jae-young, Video editing: Kim Yoon-sung, Design: Park Tae-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.