As questions mount over how Minister of Planning and Budget nominee Lee Hye-hoon won a subscription for the Raemian One Pentas apartment in Banpo-dong, Seoul — once dubbed a "lottery subscription" — Lee has also been reported to police on suspicion of failing to pay gift tax.
Seoul City Council member Lee Jong-bae said at about 2 p.m. on the 11th that he filed a police complaint with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency accusing the nominee of tax evasion. He said suspicion of evasion arises because the nominee received about 1.3 billion won worth of apartment equity from her spouse but did not attach gift tax payment records to the personnel hearing request.
In Aug. 2024, the nominee's husband signed a supply contract for the Raemian One Pentas apartment in Banpo-dong, Seocho District, with a supply price of 3,678,400,000 won. The nominee was given a 35% equity stake in the apartment presale right.
The gift tax exemption limit for spouses is 600 million won over 10 years. The value of the apartment presale right equity received by the nominee is about 1.3 billion won, exceeding the limit. Under current law, gift tax must be reported and paid within three months of the time the gift occurs.
The nominee is also suspected of inflating her subscription extra points by keeping her married eldest son listed as unmarried and grouping him in the same household to increase the number of dependents in connection with the apartment. The nominee's eldest son moved into a new home two days after the subscription application deadline.
The nominee said, "Parents could not intervene in an adult child's decisions," and noted she will explain the related suspicions in detail at the hearing.