Big Gap on Imposing Taxes on Soju,
a Traditional Korean Alcoholic Beverage
It seems that there is a big gap between the government and the ruling party on imposing increased taxes on soju.
Despite an announcement against imposing more taxes on soju by the ruling party, due to soaring exasperated public opinion, the main staff of the Cabinet have maintained a rigid position on imposing taxes, suggesting that it is very necessary to impose more taxes so as to secure public health and decrease the overall tax burden on the public.
In a reciprocal move, Moon, a policy maker of the ruling party, insisted during his interview with the CBS Radio program News Raider, "I will ask the government to look for an alternative instead...We fully understand that the government has no way not to impose more taxes on soju in order to bridge the taxation deficit, but because soju is a beverage favored by the public, it isn't a good approach to do so."
Prior to the interview, the financial minister, during his regular briefing to the press, said, "It is unreasonable to impose lower taxes on hard alcoholic beverages so as to protect the public health, causing a bad alcohol culture."
Deputy Prime Minister Han reconfirmed on September 13th that it is unavoidable, in order to obtain tax security.
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 / 입력시간: 2005. 09.20. 09:00
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