[사진=안국약품]
Anguk Pharmaceutical, famous for its edible eye supplement ‘Tobicom’, was recently fined hundreds of millions of won by the Fair Trade Commission for providing illegal rebates, and this time, the tax authorities took aim at Anguk Pharmaceutical.
In fact, it was confirmed that the Korea Customs Service began an investigation into Anguk Pharmaceutical in the middle of last month to determine whether it violated the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, and that the National Tax Service also began a special tax investigation into Anguk Pharmaceutical shortly thereafter.
Accordingly, this paper will intensively analyze Anguk Pharmaceutical, which has fallen into domestic and foreign financial difficulties due to suspicions of illegal rebate provision, violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, and tax evasion, and seek a future direction. <편집자주>
It was revealed that Vice Chairman Eo Eo-in of Anguk Pharmaceutical gifted an apartment worth billions of won in Gangnam-gu, Seoul to his two sons in an emergency situation in 2020 amid rumors of sale of the corporation due to judicial risks such as illegal clinical trials and kickbacks. There is an interpretation that a tax-saving strategy was implemented as the comprehensive real estate tax (comprehensive real estate tax) bomb was predicted.
According to this paper’s coverage on the 18th, Vice Chairman Oh gifted half of a Galleria Foret apartment in Seongdong-gu, Seoul to his eldest son (born in 1996) and half to his second son (born in 1999) in August 2020.
The apartment in question was sold by Vice Chairman Oh and his wife Kim for 4 billion won (announced price 2.8 billion won) in July 2015. They each owned 80% and 20% of the shares. According to the real estate industry, the current market price of this apartment is found to be around 9 billion won.
At the time when the donation was made, Anguk Pharmaceutical was in a turbulent situation, with rumors of restructuring and sale afoot due to suspicions of illegal clinical trials and illegal kickbacks. Moreover, in the same year, Vice Chairman Eo was on trial on charges of violating the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act related to clinical trials and obstructing the execution of official duties.
Real estate and tax officials believe that it is highly likely that the sudden gift to a young child was a tax-saving strategy by Vice Chairman Oh.
In 2020, the biggest topic was concern about the realization of a comprehensive real estate tax bomb due to the government’s sharp increase in publicly announced prices. At that time, when the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport confirmed a plan to realistically raise the publicly announced real estate price to 90% of the market price, this anxiety spread further.
In fact, people who own multiple homes moved quickly enough that the number of donations as of October of the same year had already reached an all-time high on an annual basis.
This is why some believe that Vice Chairman Oh and his wife also own an apartment in Apgujeong-dong other than Galleria Foret, so there was a need to reduce the comprehensive real estate tax burden.
◇ Hundreds of millions of dollars in tax savings through share split gifting⋯ “The process of preparing gift tax is also of utmost interest.”
In conclusion, it is interpreted that Vice Chairman Oh reduced the couple’s ownership tax burden by donating before the publicly announced price rose further, and also lowered the children’s gift tax burden, which is calculated based on the publicly announced price, thereby enjoying tax savings for the entire family.
If the tax base gift amount exceeds 3 billion won, the tax rate to be borne by the donee reaches 50%. At the time of donation in 2020, the publicly announced price of the apartment was 3.457 billion won.
It was analyzed that if one of the two sons had received the entire stock as a gift, the gift tax would have been around 1.2 billion won even if the gift property deduction (50 million won) and progressive deduction amount (460 million won) were applied.
However, as the two sons each divided the shares, the tax base gift amount decreased to 1.728 billion won, and they were each subject to a 40% tax rate. As a result, each person will have to pay about 500 million won in taxes, reducing the tax burden by about 200 million won compared to if one person received a gift.
Considering the ages of the children, how to raise gift tax exceeding 500 million won is also of great interest.
It is not known whether the two sons have currently paid gift tax. However, considering that the two sons signed a contract to provide tax collateral worth around 500 million won each in July of the year following the gift on the register, it appears that they are using the annual payment system, which involves paying over a long period of time.
Tax accountant A said, “I remember that there were a lot of inquiries about gift strategies from people who own multiple homes due to various real estate policies at the time,” and added, “There may be some differences depending on whether the vice president’s children have pre-gifted property within 10 years, gift with burden, etc., but split gifts are not possible.” He explained, “It appears that we have enjoyed a tax saving effect of approximately 200 million won.”
Reporter Information Investigative Reporting Team lamen910@ajunews.com
©’Global economic newspaper in 5 languages’ Aju Economic Daily. Reproduction and redistribution prohibited.
