[ad_1]
National companies were overwhelmed by the fear of inheritance tax. The news came that Samsung Electronics Vice President Lee Jae-yong would have to pay a tax close to 11 trillion won. The size of the inheritance tax that 20 large corporate groups in Korea must prepare for the succession of management rights reaches 22 trillion won.
An economy official pointed out that “the case of abandoning management rights or selling some subsidiaries because the total number of companies could not contribute the inheritance tax can become a reality.”
Netmarble also pays 兆 unit tax
On the 30th, the Korea Economic Research Institute analyzed the top 1 to 20 large business groups in terms of assets (excluding those who have no total or recently inherited 34 groups) and found that the estimated amount of inheritance tax It was 22.694 trillion won. The amount of inheritance tax was predicted by calculating the value of the shares held by the total number of companies based on the closing price on the 28th.
According to Han Kyung-yeon, Vice President Lee, who has to proceed with an immediate inheritance due to the death of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, must collect an inheritance tax of 10.920.6 billion won. The situation was similar for other large groups. The estimated amounts of inheritance tax for Hyundai Motor Group and SK Group are KRW 2,763.1 trillion and KRW 1.5 trillion, respectively. The amount of inheritance taxes for Hanwha (303.7 billion won), GS (2.135 billion won), Hyundai Heavy Industries (562.3 billion won), and Shinsegae (681.9 billion won) ) also reached several hundred billion won.
It wasn’t just the work of large traditional corporations with entrepreneurs of two or three years in total. To take over the holdings of Kakao Chairman Kim Beom-soo (estimated value of 4,332.4 billion won), it is necessary to pay a tax of 2,599.5 billion won. Fast-growing companies like Celltrion (27,601 trillion won), Netmarble (1,5671 trillion won), and NCsoft (1,266.4 trillion won) are no exception.
An official from an economic group said: “If an unexpected situation arises for the total number of companies that have grown rapidly, there is no way for the successor to prepare an inheritance tax immediately.” .
LG Chairman Kwang-mo Koo and Lotte Chairman Dong-bin Shin are already taxed with an inheritance tax of 720 billion won and 300 billion won. “The total value of the shares owned by the total number of the 20 largest groups is 36 trillion won, and the inheritance tax is more than half of the 22 trillion won,” Hong Seong-il said. , head of the economic policy team. Indicated.
Losing the position of the largest shareholder overlooking inheritance tax
Some argue that the business community is “ freaking out ”, but in fact, there is a case where the position of the largest shareholder was once lost due to inheritance tax. OCI Vice President Lee Woo-hyun was imposed an inheritance tax of 190 billion won when his father, President Lee Soo-young, passed away in 2017. Vice President Lee Woo-hyun sold some of his shares to pay inheritance tax and once descended as the third largest shareholder. Even now, Vice President Lee Woo-Hyun owns 5.5%, which he manages to remain the largest shareholder.
Vice President Lee Woo-Hyun said: “The inheritance tax burden is large, but there is a premium for being the largest shareholder, and if you sell shares to pay inheritance tax, you have to pay capital gains tax. . .
Vice President Lee Jae-yong has to sell a portion of his affiliates, and the next heads of other large corporate groups are known to be concerned about inheritance tax as well. One large company executive said: “If the next president sells his shares to pay inheritance tax, he may become a target of ‘hostile mergers and acquisitions’ of foreign companies or funds. If you fall into this crisis, who will be responsible for it? “
The business community requires that inheritance tax be reduced to at least 20-30%. There are many opinions that if the inheritance tax rate cannot be reduced, at least measures should be prepared to protect management rights, such as differential voting rights. The claim is to allow the issuance of shares with exceptions to the principle of “one share = 1 voting right” to guarantee management rights. In the United States, the inheritance tax rate is high, with a maximum of 40%, but administration rights are protected by differential voting rights.
Reporter Do Byeong-wook / Kim Il-gyu [email protected]
