"Government Plans Can't Always Be Perfect"... Revisions Expected for Single-Homeowner Residence Distinction

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President Lee Jae-myung remarked during a Cabinet meeting today (Sept. 1) that "we must acknowledge that government proposals cannot always be perfect." As the government's tax reform bill heads to the National Assembly for review, the Democratic Party has signaled additional revisions.

Reporter Ha Jeongyeon has the details.

[Reporter]

During today's Cabinet meeting, which deliberated and voted on the government's tax reform and budget proposals, President Lee made these remarks while urging bipartisan cooperation between the ruling and opposition parties as the regular session of the National Assembly begins.

[President Lee Jae-myung: We must admit that government proposals are not always right nor can they be perfect. If there are reasonable points and suggestions, please do not hesitate to faithfully reflect them in legislation and the budget.]

The government's tax reform bill, which passed the Cabinet meeting today, has now been submitted to the National Assembly to undergo full review during the regular session that kicked off today.

The Democratic Party stated, "While we agree with the intent of the government's tax reform plan to favor actual residents, strong consideration must also be given to the fairness of taxation among single homeowners felt by the public and the predictability of tax burdens."

In particular, the party emphasized, "We will make additional supplementary adjustments where necessary, including measures to remove differentials based on residency status for the basic comprehensive real estate holding tax exemption for single homeowners."

[Hahn Byung-do / Democratic Party Floor Leader: We will evaluate the positive aspects of the government proposal and discuss what else might be needed in the National Assembly...]

As Party Leader Kim Min-seok previously made a public request not to distinguish between resident and non-resident single homeowners, the government's proposal—which sets the basic comprehensive real estate holding tax exemption at 1.4 billion won for residents and 1.2 billion won for non-residents—is expected to be revised in a direction that eliminates these differences.

Furthermore, the abolition of the long-term holding special deduction for non-resident single homeowners, which Leader Kim has characterized as "effectively a tax hike," is also likely to be subject to further revision.

A Democratic Party lawmaker representing a district in Seoul told SBS, "It appears the government put a significant amount of sincerity into gathering opinions within the party," while adding, "Discussions will take place within the party on measures such as completely removing the distinction between resident and non-resident single homeowners and adjusting the raised fair market value ratio."

(Camera Reporter: Kim Yong-woo | Video Editor: Nam Il | Designer: Han Heung-soo, Kim Ye-ji)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.