Yoon orders finance ministry to consider bigger tax break for chip sector

President Yoon Suk-yeol on Friday ordered ministries to actively consider measures further expanding tax incentives for the semiconductor sector and other national strategic industries.

Yoon requested the Ministry of Economy and Finance to come up with ways to further expand tax benefits for national strategic technologies such as semiconductors as they are "our security assets and core technologies," a president office’s deputy spokesperson said.

His remark came after the ruling People Power Party and opposition party agreed to revise the Restriction of Special Taxation Act, to increase the tax credit for conglomerates' semiconductor facility investments to from 6 percent to 8 percent on Dec. 23. It was, however, much lower than 20 percent -- the rate suggested by the ruling party's special committee for the chip industry competitiveness promotion.

Yoon also voiced regret over the tax incentive ideas proposed by the ruling’s special committee which failed to be discussed thoroughly, according to the deputy spokesperson.

Regarding the parliamentary plenary session’s approval of the amendment on cutting corporate tax rate by 1 percentage point, Yoon said it could not reflect enough to enhance local firms’ global competitiveness and investment expansion due to the main opposition’s bog down, the deputy spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, the government will approve a set of revised taxation rules on Friday afternoon at an extraordinary Cabinet session presided over by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.