SEOUL– President Yoon Suk Yeol instructed the government Friday to consider additional tax breaks for the semiconductor and other strategic industries, his office said.
Under a recently passed tax code revision, large corporations are eligible for an 8 percent tax exemption on investments in semiconductor and other strategic industry facilities.
The new rate is an increase of 2 percentage points from the current 6 percent but far below the 20 percent initially sought by the ruling People Power Party.
“It is regrettable that the tax break proposed by the (PPP) semiconductor special committee was not sufficiently discussed,” Yoon said, according to deputy presidential spokesperson Lee Jae-myoung.
“In particular, national strategic technologies, such as semiconductors, are a national security asset and our industries’ core technology, so I would like the finance ministry to actively consider ways to additionally expand tax breaks for national strategic industries, including the semiconductor industry, in consultation with relevant ministries,” he said.
The Cabinet is set to approve the revised tax code later Friday.
Lee said Yoon also lamented that the corporate tax rate was cut by only 1 percentage point from the highest rate of 25 percent, when the government had sought a 3 percentage-point cut.
“Due to resistance from the opposition party that used its majority in parliament, the cut in the corporate tax’s highest tax rate, which was aimed at enhancing businesses’ global competitiveness and expanding investments, was not fully reflected,” Yoon said.
Source: Yonhap News Agency