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omonatheydidAs the due date for paying inheritance tax owed by the late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee's bereaved family is approaching, observers are looking at how the heirs will pay one of the world's largest inheritance tax bills estimated at around 13 trillion won ($11.7 billion).
Industry sources said Tuesday that Samsung Group may officially announce a payment plan for the tax, which is due by the end of this month, next week although a company official declined to reveal any details on the matter.
The heirs are Lee's widow Hong Ra-hee, son and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, oldest daughter and Hotel Shilla CEO Lee Boo-jin and younger daughter and Samsung Welfare Foundation Chairwoman Lee Seo-hyun.
The late chairman passed away in October, 2020, aged 78, leaving behind 19 trillion won in stocks, and artwork and real estate with an estimated value of around 3 trillion won.
As seen in previous cases such as the LG Group owner family after Chairman Koo Bon-moo's death and the family of the late Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho, the Samsung Group heirs are expected to opt to pay the tax over a five-year period after first paying a one-sixth installment of around 2 trillion won.
The inheritance tax on the stocks is calculated based on the average price of the shares over a period of four months ― two months prior to death and two months after.
But attention is being drawn to how the late chairman's enormous art collection will be dealt with. According to media reports, the heirs decided to donate some of the art to local museums. Samsung Group refused to confirm this, saying "the bereaved family will deal with the inheritance issue."
The late Samsung chief was known to be an avid art collector and a supporter of artists such as celebrated video artist Paik Nam-june. He had collected around 13,000 pieces, ranging from ancient Korean to contemporary art.
The late chairman's love for art was inherited from his father and Samsung Group founder Lee Byung-chull, who collected antique works. He inherited his father's collection and became Korea's biggest individual collector of rare artefacts including 20 National Treasures and works by Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol.
In regard to dealing with the collection, local art experts have expressed concern that some pieces may be sold to raise the necessary money to pay the massive inheritance tax.
Given the country doesn't allow heirs to pay inheritance taxes with works of art, the experts have called on the government to revise the current Tax Law so that the late chairman's valuable art collection can be kept together in the country. In response to this, ruling Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Lee Kwang-jae proposed a bill to revise the law last November.
However, a local art scene official said the heirs won't be able to pay the tax with works of art as the relevant revision has yet to be enacted.
"The bill to revise the Tax Law is still waiting for a vote in the National Assembly. Given the due tax date in April, the late chairman's scions won't be able to pay the inheritance tax with artwork," Chung Joon-mo, president of the Korea Art Authentication and Appraisal Research Center and former curatorial director at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, said.
In the early 2010s, Chung was the first person to raise the need to revise the Tax Law to allow people to pay inheritance tax with works of art. Since then scholars, artists and officials on the local art scene have agreed that the current law needs to be amended to allow people to do this so that the country can officially preserve the legacy of artists who have passed away rather than seeing their works auctioned off.
"Apart from the late chairman's inheritance tax issue, we need to revise the Tax Law. Many older artists leave their work behind when they pass away and the amount of inheritance tax imposed is huge. With the purpose of preserving the cultural heritage of famous artists, many countries such as the U.K., France and the Netherlands allow people to pay inheritance tax with art," Chung said.
source: The Korea Times
Industry sources said Tuesday that Samsung Group may officially announce a payment plan for the tax, which is due by the end of this month, next week although a company official declined to reveal any details on the matter.
The heirs are Lee's widow Hong Ra-hee, son and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, oldest daughter and Hotel Shilla CEO Lee Boo-jin and younger daughter and Samsung Welfare Foundation Chairwoman Lee Seo-hyun.
The late chairman passed away in October, 2020, aged 78, leaving behind 19 trillion won in stocks, and artwork and real estate with an estimated value of around 3 trillion won.
As seen in previous cases such as the LG Group owner family after Chairman Koo Bon-moo's death and the family of the late Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho, the Samsung Group heirs are expected to opt to pay the tax over a five-year period after first paying a one-sixth installment of around 2 trillion won.
The inheritance tax on the stocks is calculated based on the average price of the shares over a period of four months ― two months prior to death and two months after.
But attention is being drawn to how the late chairman's enormous art collection will be dealt with. According to media reports, the heirs decided to donate some of the art to local museums. Samsung Group refused to confirm this, saying "the bereaved family will deal with the inheritance issue."
The late Samsung chief was known to be an avid art collector and a supporter of artists such as celebrated video artist Paik Nam-june. He had collected around 13,000 pieces, ranging from ancient Korean to contemporary art.
The late chairman's love for art was inherited from his father and Samsung Group founder Lee Byung-chull, who collected antique works. He inherited his father's collection and became Korea's biggest individual collector of rare artefacts including 20 National Treasures and works by Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol.
In regard to dealing with the collection, local art experts have expressed concern that some pieces may be sold to raise the necessary money to pay the massive inheritance tax.
Given the country doesn't allow heirs to pay inheritance taxes with works of art, the experts have called on the government to revise the current Tax Law so that the late chairman's valuable art collection can be kept together in the country. In response to this, ruling Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Lee Kwang-jae proposed a bill to revise the law last November.
However, a local art scene official said the heirs won't be able to pay the tax with works of art as the relevant revision has yet to be enacted.
"The bill to revise the Tax Law is still waiting for a vote in the National Assembly. Given the due tax date in April, the late chairman's scions won't be able to pay the inheritance tax with artwork," Chung Joon-mo, president of the Korea Art Authentication and Appraisal Research Center and former curatorial director at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, said.
In the early 2010s, Chung was the first person to raise the need to revise the Tax Law to allow people to pay inheritance tax with works of art. Since then scholars, artists and officials on the local art scene have agreed that the current law needs to be amended to allow people to do this so that the country can officially preserve the legacy of artists who have passed away rather than seeing their works auctioned off.
"Apart from the late chairman's inheritance tax issue, we need to revise the Tax Law. Many older artists leave their work behind when they pass away and the amount of inheritance tax imposed is huge. With the purpose of preserving the cultural heritage of famous artists, many countries such as the U.K., France and the Netherlands allow people to pay inheritance tax with art," Chung said.
source: The Korea Times
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Date: 2021-04-20 11:06 pm (UTC)Mark looks cute. Thats it
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Date: 2021-04-21 12:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-04-21 03:42 am (UTC)Omg this flop app. Wrong post 😪
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Date: 2021-04-21 03:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-04-20 11:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-04-20 11:29 pm (UTC)the art market is just an investment/money laundering avenue for the rich.
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Date: 2021-04-21 02:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-04-21 06:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-04-21 07:31 pm (UTC)anyone who thinks of this guy as an art lover is either naive or in on the scam.
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Date: 2021-04-21 12:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-04-21 12:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-04-21 01:24 am (UTC)im guessing the inheritance you gain counts as a source income.... thats how i see it.
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Date: 2021-04-21 07:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-04-21 08:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-04-21 08:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-04-21 07:07 am (UTC)great!
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Date: 2021-04-21 08:42 am (UTC)But yeah eat the rich
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Date: 2021-04-21 03:05 pm (UTC)Also, a quick glance at his Wikipedia page tells me he was sketchy af when it comes to his money and also bribery.
So yeah, eat the rich.
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Date: 2021-04-21 04:11 pm (UTC)It turns out Lee Kun-Hee had a heart attack in 2014 and was in a coma until his death in 2020. So six freaking years! I have no idea what his family has been doing with his wealth during all that time but you can bet they kept him alive until it was convenient not to.
This also tells me that, given the sudden nature of a heart attack, he had no time to plan for his death. I mean, he had a few bouts of lung cancer. I'm sure he had regular screenings, but his last serious case was in 2005, so he might not have been as on top of his will/estate as he would have been if he knew his death was immanent.
I don't know a ton about estate planning, and I certainly don't know anything about estate planning in South Korea, but in the US and Canada a lot of rich people set up trusts or charities and make "gifts" to their children so the property, monetary or otherwise, will be taxed as a gift rather then part of the deceased estate. At least in North America the taxes on that is lesser than estate taxes (which are something like 50%).
I'm curious about his art collection. 13,000 pieces is a lot. Like, private museum level a lot. It's also a good way to hoard wealth. If he had been able to donate those before his death or set up a non-profit museum and then donate all the art there it wouldn't have been counted as part of his estate and would have saved him a lot of taxes in the long run. It sounds like his heirs are trying to work something out with the government to do just that and they may be successful. Depends on their lawyers, political power (Lee Kun-Hee apparently had a history of paying off politicians), and what's in the collection. If there are items of historical value or that the government wants in museums that will impact the decision.
No matter what, his wife and three living children are all millionaires so it's not like they need the money. I'm sure they want it, and I'm sure the proverbial vultures are circling the wagon, but really the estate should be taxed the maximum amount. It probably won't be, in the end, but it should.
A quick edit: This may or may not mean anything, depending on whether or not Lee Kun-Hee was a total sociopath or not, but he had a daughter, Lee Yoon-Huyng who committed suicide in 2005. For all intents and purposes, it looks like she was interested in art and was studying Arts Management at NYU. This suggests to me that she hoped, and perhaps her family planned, to create some sort of non-profit arts foundation that she would run/manage. It also sounds like she owned a fair amount of art at the time of her death, which I imagine when to her parents. It's possible that Lee Kun-Hee never did anything about his art collect because his youngest daughter, presumably the person who cared about it the most, was dead. This is all just speculation through rose colored glasses, but it is a possibility.