Yongin Mayor Lee Sang-il: "City and County Opposition to Corporate Local Income Tax Reform Will Be Significant"

Yongin Special City Mayor Lee Sang-il stated on the 10th that "Gyeonggi Province's plan to consolidate half of the corporate local income tax of 31 cities and counties as a shared tax source to address fiscal deficits will face strong opposition from each city and county."

Mayor Lee appeared on OBS Radio's "Good Morning OBS with Kim Jun-ho" that day, clearly expressing his opposition to Governor Choo Mi-ae's recent mention of revising corporate local income tax to address insufficient tax revenues.

When asked about his views on Gyeonggi Province's corporate local income tax consolidation issue, the mayor stated, "Governor Choo Mi-ae has spoken of a 7 trillion won fiscal deficit as an emergency situation, but we need to carefully examine the nature of this debt and the repayment period. Rather than resolving Gyeonggi Province's worsened financial situation—which resulted from numerous cash support projects since the 7th and 8th private election terms—through expenditure restructuring, they are saying they will take half of the corporate local income tax from 31 cities and counties within the province, which will trigger significant opposition from the cities and counties."

Mayor Lee added, "When you examine Gyeonggi Province's cash support projects, in many cases cities and counties bear 70 percent of the total project costs, which amounts to the province taking the credit while burdening cities and counties with the costs. All such policies need to be thoroughly reviewed."

Regarding Gyeonggi Province's securing of independent financial resources, the mayor emphasized that "we should coordinate with the central government to convert Gyeonggi Province from a non-recipient local government to a recipient local government and pursue a plan to secure tax sources independently."