Cheong Wa Dae said on the 7th that it is reviewing the enactment of a special law to establish a "future response fund" using additional tax revenues from a boom in the semiconductor industry. It is placing weight on the point that revenues will "increase over the next few years," naming them "additional tax revenues" instead of the existing legal term "excess tax revenues," and plans to use the money collected in this way for regional balanced development and youth policies.
Under the National Finance Act, "excess tax revenues" have strictly defined uses, such as the repayment of Government Bonds. For Cheong Wa Dae, changing this expression and creating a special law can minimize such constraints. The government plans to unveil a blueprint, including plans for using the fund, at the national fiscal strategy meeting next week.
Ryu Deok-hyeon, Cheong Wa Dae's fiscal planning secretary, appeared on the YouTube program "Cheong Wa Dae Fact Mill" on the same day and said, "The future response fund will have to be created in the form of a special law," adding, "We plan to communicate well with the National Assembly so that the procedures (to establish the fund) are completed." It comes two days after Cheong Wa Dae, the government, and the Democratic Party of Korea held a high-level party-government consultation on the 5th and decided to establish the future response fund as a way to use additional tax revenues. The lead ministry is the Ministry of Planning and Budget.
According to Cheong Wa Dae, ▲ first, a body related to establishing the fund will be created within the Democratic Party, ▲ the big picture will be unveiled at next week's national fiscal strategy meeting, and ▲ detailed plans will be announced in time with the "drafting of next year's budget bill" at the end of Aug. Ryu said, "We will inform you to some extent through the national fiscal strategy meeting to be held a week from now, and around the time the government drafts next year's budget bill, which is to be submitted to the National Assembly at the end of Aug., we will include the specifics."
The focus is to use tax revenues evenly for support of and infrastructure investment in the government's "three mega projects" (semiconductors, artificial intelligence data centers, physical AI), as well as for responses to polarization and balanced development. Regarding the operation of the fund, Ryu said, "We will build consensus by communicating sufficiently through academia, the media, and various public bodies in compliance with legal procedures," adding, "Because it is a fund made up of taxes paid by the public, it cannot be done unilaterally. We will prepare well to avoid misunderstandings."