First payment of inheritance tax by art...4 paintings, including works by Korean and Chinese painters

[Anchor]
For the first time since the system to pay inheritance tax on behalf of cultural assets or artworks began last year, there has been a case of paying inheritance tax in pictures.

Individuals applied to pay inheritance tax in pictures instead, and the government allowed payment in advance after deliberation.

Reporter Park Soon-pyo's report.

[Reporter]
These are two treasures offered at auction by the Gansong Museum of Art in 2020.

When the eldest son of Kansong Jeon Hyung-pil passed away, the Buddha statue held by his descendants was auctioned off to raise inheritance tax.

When the treasure was handed over to the public, there was a voice that the state needed a system to receive cultural assets or art in lieu of inheritance tax.

Even when Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee donated the work left by him to the state, there was a strong argument that inheritance tax should be paid in advance.

In the end, the National Assembly passed an amendment to the tax law that says inheritance tax can be paid as art or cultural properties if certain requirements are met for the start of inheritance after 2023.

For the first time since the system was implemented, four cases of art were allowed to pay inheritance tax.

In January this year, an individual applied to the Seocho Tax Office in Seoul to pay inheritance tax with 10 artworks, and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism set up a review committee with seven experts to allow the payment of inheritance tax on four items.

[Lee Kwan-pyo / Director of the Cultural Foundation Division of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism: France, the United Kingdom, and Japan have already implemented payment systems, and many of the world's leading museums such as the Picasso Museum and the Louvre Museum have been paid for.]

The artworks allowed to be delivered include two portraits of Chinese artist Zeng Panz, a sunrise painting by Korean artist Lee Man-ik, and a sculpture of Korean paper by Jeon Kwang-young.

Academic and artistic values, as well as storage conditions and future utilization, were considered comprehensively.

Works that are allowed to be paid in advance will be stored and displayed at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art through procedures.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism expects that the inheritance tax payment will activate the system to pay inheritance tax on behalf of cultural assets and artworks.

I'm Park Soonpyo of YTN.


Video editing:Kim Hee-jung
Design:Lee Ga-eun