Will Korea Impose a New Capital Gains Tax on Stocks?

The ruling party in Korea, because of recent popularity in bashing the “rich,” has proposed a new tax on capital gains on stocks.  Many of us that assist investment companies in Korea are very afraid that the growing radical liberal minority in Korean society will, through its efforts to gain the presidency, scare away foreigners from the Korean market.

Luckily, the government is much more “cautious.”

“I am cautious about imposing a tax on capital gains from profits from stock investment,” Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan was quoted as saying by the local media during parliamentary committee meetings on finance. “The international financial market’s volatility is particularly high at this point in time.”

The Finance Minister is being pushed to form a government task force. If the task force is formed, the caution has ended and passion has taken the backseat to reason.  This is not a rare occurrence in Korea.  We are hopeful that reason will not, this time, take a backdoor to politics.

What do you think?
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SeanHayes@ipglegal.com

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