The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Monday that it proposed amendments to customs legislations allowing the expansion of duty free shops operated by small and medium enterprises.The revision also included downsizing duty free shops owned by conglomerates such as Lotte and Shinsegae, and restricting them to maintain a market share below 60 percent.SMEs, meanwhile, will be able to see the benefits from this revision that will allow an increase in the number of their shops to account for more

Seoul office worker Jasmine HS Kim and her husband are contemplating what to do when their apartment lease expires at the end of this year.Their owner has already notified them through a real estate agent that she is considering shifting to billing monthly rents, and would no longer accept large-sum deposits, or “jeonse.”This has prompted them to start looking for available and affordable jeonse apartments in Seoul, but Kim said there are not many choices in the market. Apartment prices are too

The National Tax Service said Tuesday that it would deal sternly with 47 people allegedly operating unreported overseas accounts that hold more than 1 billion won each.The state-run tax collector urged those offshore accountholders to voluntarily report their deposits to the authority, or otherwise face the consequences of being audited.It said it would publicly disclose the owners of offshore accounts with deposits of more than 5 billion won should they refuse to abide by the law and report the

Woori Financial Group has officially launched the sale of its subsidiary Woori Investment & Securities along with other non-banking units, financial regulators said Friday.Korea’s leading brokerage house will be offered in a “package” with three other nonbank subsidiaries ― Woori Aviva Life Insurance, Woori Asset Management and Woori FG Savings Bank.Potential buyers are required to submit their preliminary bids for the batch of nonbanking units to their lead sales manager Citigroup Global Market

The National Tax Service is set to closely scrutinize the books of high-income and self-employed professionals such as doctors, lawyers, architects, real estate agents and private moneylenders to see whether they have been properly paying their taxes. This toughened stance comes as the Ministry of Strategy and Finance seeks to increase its tax collection from the self-employed to make up for the possible decrease in revenue following the readjustment of its tax code revision.The Ministry of Fina

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said that the government will not make any changes to its welfare policy following the readjustment of its tax code revision.The administration’s 135 trillion won ($120.6 billion) budget for welfare expansion will not be reduced, and it will stick to the plan it pledged for the lower and middle class, the finance minister stressed to reporters after an economic-related meeting on Wednesday.The ministry’s latest modification of the revision,

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Tuesday that it would raise the baseline income dividing the top and mid to low income earners from 34.5 million won to 55 million won as part of its tax code revision.This would significantly decrease the number of workers facing tax burdens from the government’s earlier proposal to about 2 million, from more than 4.3 million people, who were categorized in the top 28 percent bracket.Those with an annual salary of more than 55 million won will face tax

The nation’s No. 2 airliner, Asiana Airlines, on said Sunday it plans to offer $10,000 in compensation to all passengers who were aboard the Boeing 777 plane that crashed in San Francisco last month.“The compensation is a minimum payment to cover medical expenses and inconveniences,” Asiana official said. They added that passengers may still file lawsuits after accepting the compensation, including those who were not injured. The air carrier’s move came as its plane, carrying 291 passengers and

South Korea’s Incheon International Airport Corp. said Sunday that it has been picked as the preferred bidder for the development of a new international airport in Myanmar.The company, which operates the country’s largest airport, said it will hold detailed negotiations with authorities from Myanmar on the size of the new airport and other matters related to costs and operations, with the final agreement to be reached by the year’s end.Once an agreement is reached, the goal will be to open Hanth