Companies spend 3 tri. won on reception expenses, donate only 10 mil. won to culture and arts promotion

Companies spend about 3 trillion won per year on reception expenses but donate only 10 million won to the promotion of culture and arts, it was disclosed Tuesday.

In a parliamentary review of the Korean Culture and Arts Foundation¡¯s affairs, Rep. Shim Jae-Kwon of the Millennium Democratic Party said that companies¡¯ reception expenses reached 2.7 trillion won last year, but their contributions to funds for the promotion of culture and arts only came to 54 million won, some one-fourth of the target. He said that his argument is based on data presented by the National Tax Service.

Rep. Shim also estimated that corporate spending for reception expenses would be close to 3 trillion won this year. He said that the target amount for corporate contributions for the promotion of culture and arts was set at 50 million won this year, taking companies¡¯ financial difficulties into account. But so far, only 10 million won has been raised, and this was given by KorAm Bank.

Corporate spending on reception expenses amounted to 3,498.8 billion won in 1997 and 3,525.4 billion won in 1988, while corporate contributions for the promotion of culture and arts totaled 464 million won and 236 million won, respectively. Rep. Shim predicted that the contributions would further decrease from next year, when the government will stop offering tax exemptions for the donated amounts.