Samjong KPMG said on the 26th that it will hold a webinar on Feb. 12 for corporate tax officers titled "Briefing on the 2026 amended tax laws."
The briefing was arranged to comprehensively analyze the key points of the amended tax laws that apply beginning this year, explain the legislative background and policy direction, and guide what to watch when applying them in corporate practice.
In particular, the amended tax laws announced this year—the first since the launch of the Lee Jae-myung administration—include changes across various tax items that affect overall corporate management, including corporate tax, the Act on Restriction on Special Cases Concerning Taxation, international taxation, value-added taxes, inheritance tax and gift tax, and local government tax. As a result, the importance of advance review by corporations and establishing systematic response strategies is expected to grow.
At the briefing, Samjong KPMG's tax specialists by tax item will present to help corporate tax practitioners understand the amended tax laws more clearly and respond effectively in practice.
The amended tax laws include many key points that corporations must check. First, to secure fiscal soundness and enhance tax equity, the government raised corporate tax rates by 1% for each taxable income bracket. For domestic corporations belonging to business groups subject to restrictions on mutual investment under the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act, the ratio of corporate income that must be recirculated under the investment and co-prosperity promotion tax system will also be raised. Accordingly, the overall corporate tax burden is expected to increase, centered on corporations.
The amendment also includes measures that can ease corporations' tax burdens. To strengthen support for future strategic industries, the scope of detailed technologies for new growth and original technologies and national strategic technologies eligible for research and development tax credit will be expanded, and the scope of new growth commercialization facilities and national strategic commercialization facilities eligible for integrated investment tax credit will also be broadened. In addition, the tax credit rate for video content production costs has been increased, and a tax credit for webtoon content production costs has been newly introduced.
To promote revitalization of the capital market, a separate taxation system for dividend income from high-dividend corporations will also be newly introduced. To be recognized as a high-dividend listed corporation, the cash dividend amount must not decrease compared with the base year of 2024, and either ▲ the payout ratio must be at least 40% or ▲ the payout ratio must be at least 25% with a dividend amount increase of 10% or more from the previous year.
In addition, the amendment includes a measure to raise additional tax rates to prevent tax evasion. With higher additional tax rates on fabricated tax invoices issued or received without the supply of goods or services, the need to strengthen corporations' tax management systems and internal controls is expected to become more pronounced.
Separately, the valuation method for virtual assets was changed from the first-in, first-out method to the weighted-average method to enhance the rationality of virtual asset income calculations. The rules were also clarified so that, in triangular mergers, the scope of "stocks, etc." included in merger consideration includes the stock of a foreign corporation that is the wholly owning parent of the merging corporation.
Yoon Hak-seop, head of tax advisory at Samjong KPMG, said, "The 2026 amended tax laws contain a variety of changes that could materially affect corporations' tax strategies and key decision-making," adding, "We expect this briefing to help corporate tax officers accurately understand the changed tax environment and prepare practically effective response measures."
Participation in the webinar is free through the Samjong KPMG website, and instructions on how to view the webinar will be provided individually only to those who register in advance.