Agricultural Community Investment Attraction Plan of Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry

The private enterprisers will be allowed to build a mini-golf course or condominium in a marginal land which has a low productivity from the next year. Also, if a city-dweller buys a house in Myeon of the agricultural villages additionally, the government has gone ahead the plan not to levy a transfer income tax, not considering this purchase as 2 houses of 1 household.

Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) made ‘a countermeasure of agricultural investment attraction’ based on the details on July 17. Also, MAF announced to amend the related regulations for the Agriculture and Fishery Village Adjustment Regulation and Organic la of Agriculture in this year

▽Money of the city to the agricultural village 〓According to a program of Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the government will permit to build the mini-golf course, rural house, condominium, silver town in the marginal lands of nationwide 630,000,000 pyong. At this time, the local taxes such as acquisition tax and registration tax will be exempted. Also, the government will permit private enterprisers to perform the project of the marginal land improvement which was permitted only to the local government or National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (NACF).

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry announced to go head the measure which exempts the transfer tax for 2 houses of 1 household even though the city-dwellers own the house in the agricultural area. It focuses on the houses in Myeon area of the country excluding the metropolitan area and metropolitans.

Also, it will ease the regulation of the Agricultural Land Law in order for city-dwellers to do the weekend farm project purchasing the farmland.

Jeong Hak-Su, the head of Agricultural development bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry explained “Agricultural population and farmer’s income has decreased continuously. So, the spontaneous growth of the agricultural village reached the limits. This measure is for stopping a collapse of agricultural community attracting the capital and people of the city”.

▽Difficult to adjust opinion between minister 〓 if the measure succeeds, it will bring the effective results through attracting the capital from the city. However, the Ministry of Finance and Economy objects to this measure, and the local government has been concerned about the decrease of the local taxes. Accordingly, accepting the measure of Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is yet to be known.

For example, the measure which approves the 2 houses of 1 household for agricultural house, is objected by the Ministry of Finance and Economy. It can shake the system of ‘transfer income tax and tax exemption for one house of one household’.

Some tax experts insisted that there must be active discussion on the transfer income tax reform through proposal of the ministry of agriculture and forestry.

No Yeong-Hun, the researcher of Korea Institute of Public Finance pointed out “The existing transfer tax system has instigated a speculation contrary to original purpose as it attracts to buy the non-residential house”.

When the individual obtains the transfer profit which exceeds the certain amount for the certain period regardless of number of houses, it is levied as the income tax and so the problem of the agricultural house purchase will be solved of itself.

The marginal land is the land which is less than 2㏊(6000 Pyong) far from other farmland or over the average incline rate of 15%. The marginal land covers the land of 210,000 ha (630,000,000 Pyong) in the whole country.

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