The Democratic Party of Korea has decided not to introduce a revision to the inheritance tax law, which includes a blanket deduction for inheritance tax and an increase in spouse deductions, as a fast track (urgent processing agenda) in the plenary session on the 13th. The semiconductor special law, which has 'exception application of the 52-hour workweek system' as a point of contention, will remain designated as a fast track.
Democratic Party spokesperson Yoon Jong-gun said, "The revision of the inheritance tax law has been decided to be excluded from the fast track designation," and noted, "There is a possibility for bipartisan agreement on the inheritance tax law."
The Democratic Party has been promoting a revision to the inheritance tax law that increases the blanket deduction from 500 million won to 800 million won and the spouse deduction from 500 million won to 1 billion won. The People Power Party argues that the highest tax rate should be reduced from 50% to 40% and that the additional charge applied to major shareholders of large corporations for business succession should be abolished.
However, the People Power Party has established a policy to prioritize the processing of the inheritance tax law as an agreed issue. Earlier, Kweon Seong-dong, the floor leader of the People Power Party, said after the party's national assembly countermeasures meeting on the 7th, "Our party has decided to pursue the abolition of inheritance tax between couples as a party line," and added, "If we present the bill (revision of the Inheritance and Gift Tax Act) and discuss it in the Strategy and Finance Committee, the Democratic Party may change its position positively."
Spokesperson Yoon said, "In this political situation, wouldn't it be appropriate to move towards a stage of openly discussing inheritance tax by excluding the fast track designation?" and noted, "There was a political judgment that it would be better to move in that direction in broad terms rather than focusing on detailed agreements."
The Democratic Party has decided to maintain the semiconductor special law, which has the exception application of the 52-hour workweek system (white-collar) as a point of contention, as a fast track. Additionally, a bank law revision that includes a decrease in the additional charge on loan interest rates and a revision to the franchise law that strengthens the collective registration and bargaining rights of franchisees will be processed as fast track in the plenary session on the 13th.