PPP Blisters Tax Plan as "Tax Extortion," While DP Monitors Public Sentiment Closely

[Anchor]

Regarding the latest tax reform proposal, the People Power Party strongly criticized it, claiming it ultimately amounts to collecting more taxes. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party has withheld an official statement, choosing to carefully gauge public opinion.

Reporter Park Chan-beom has the details.

[Reporter]

The People Power Party harshly dismissed the government's tax reform proposal as the "worst in history," arguing that it only increases the total tax burden on the public.

Representative Jang Dong-hyeok criticized it as "tax extortion that takes back what was handed out," while People Power Party members of the National Assembly's Finance and Economy Committee labeled it a "tax reform of harsh exploitation," using a traditional term for heavy taxation and extortion of the people's wealth.

[Bae Joon-young / People Power Party Secretary, National Assembly Finance and Economy Committee: The government, which is raking in record-high tax surpluses thanks to the semiconductor boom, says it will collect an additional 3.4 trillion won in taxpayers' money. In short, it is a 'shut up and pay taxes' approach.]

The People Power Party predicted that measures to tighten the comprehensive real estate holding tax on multi-home owners and non-resident single-home owners would cause the most severe side effects, warning that the tax burden would be shifted onto tenants and lead to higher lease deposits and rents.

In particular, they argued that including non-resident single-home owners as targets for the tightened comprehensive real estate tax suppresses even the freedom of movement and residence for single-home owners.

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The Democratic Party did not issue a separate official commentary yesterday (August 3), the day the reform proposal was announced, and the floor leadership is set to state its position today.

A Democratic Party leadership official told SBS, "As tax reform is a sensitive issue, we are carefully discussing our official stance."

It appears they are organizing their position while monitoring public sentiment trends regarding the new reform proposal.

[Kang Jun-hyun / Senior Spokesperson, Democratic Party: The party leadership has decided to closely examine public livelihoods, asset markets, and real estate, and focus on preparing alternatives.]

Both the ruling and opposition parties are on high alert, recognizing that the direction of public sentiment following this real estate tax reform is a critical variable not only for political dominance, but also for upcoming elections.

(Camera Footage: Lee Seung-hwan, Shin Dong-hwan / Video Editing: Lee Seung-hee)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.