Ruling Party Mulls Tax Breaks for Broadcast Sector

The ruling Grand National Party yesterday said it is considering tax breaks for broadcast services.

In a meeting with reporters at the party headquarters in Seoul’s Yeouido district, the party’s policy committee chairman Kim Seong-jo said, “We will do our best to accelerate domestic media development with relevant bills. We are considering tax incentives for broadcasting services.”

“The party’s policy committee is reviewing diverse support measures to boost the media industry.”

“The public wants to see the rise of a new media industry while supporting the continuous growth of existing media. We will make sure the government can provide tax incentives by including broadcasting, software development and supply services in the knowledge industry,” he added.

The special tax relief system for small and medium-size companies offers tax breaks of 10 to 30 percent for medium enterprises in the Seoul metropolitan area only when they are designated as part of the knowledge industry. Therefore, he said, the party seeks to provide tax incentives for broadcast services by categorizing them as knowledge industry along with engineering and IT.

“We should also provide infrastructure-related support for the newspaper industry, and plan to expand support for regional newspapers facing poor management conditions,” he said.

rews@donga.com