An inquiry during a National Assembly audit challenged the credibility of media reports suggesting that wealthy South Koreans were leaving the country due to inheritance tax burdens, citing questionable data sources.
During a recent National Assembly audit, an inquiry raised concerns regarding the reliability of media reports claiming that South Korea's wealthy citizens were leaving the country due to high inheritance taxes. Lawmaker Cha Kyu-geun criticized the frequent reliance on data from foreign investment immigration firms, particularly highlighting how these firms incorrectly combined individual asset data to present it as evidence of a mass exodus of millionaires.
Cha pointed out that despite the reports focusing on inheritance tax burdens, the referenced data did not even mention such taxes as a reason for emigration. He urged the Ministry of Economy and Finance, represented by Deputy Prime Minister Hong Kyun-taek, to acknowledge the dubious nature of the information from ‘Henley & Partners’ and to clarify its origins in response to similar reports in reputable media outlets.
The media narrative was initially fueled by a press release from the Korea Chamber of Commerce, which proposed a hybrid inheritance/capital gains tax approach to lessen the burden of succession on businesses. The Chamber argued that high inheritance tax rates pose a significant barrier to corporate succession and cited the contentious data from Henley & Partners as a key justification for their claims, raising questions about the accuracy and implications of such information.
