It is expected that the Samsung family, who inherits the assets of Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee and pays an inheritance tax of 12 trillion won, will pay taxes through dividends and loans.
Although heirs such as Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, Mrs. Hong Ra-hee, Lee Bu-jin, Hotel Shilla President, and Lee Seo-hyun, Samsung Welfare Foundation Chairman, did not disclose details, experts estimate that the standard of inheritance tax that they will report to the National Tax Service will reach a total of 26.1 trillion won.
First of all, stocks account for the largest portion of the inheritance tax, which exceeds 12 trillion won.
The stock value of Samsung affiliates such as Samsung Electronics (4.18%), Samsung Life Insurance (20.76%), Samsung C&T (2.88%), and Samsung SDS (0.01%) held by Chairman Lee amounted to approximately KRW 19 trillion, and the inheritance tax amount was 11 trillion. It amounts to billions of won.
This is an amount obtained by applying a 20% premium to the largest shareholder, a 50% maximum tax rate, and a 3% voluntary report deduction rate to the average of the closing prices for two months before Chairman Lee's death date (October 25, last year) and two months after his death.
In addition, there seems to be an enormous amount of real estate inheritance, such as Chairman Lee's home in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, and the area around Everland, Yongin, Gyeonggi-do.
The area around Everland, Yongin, was owned by Chairman Lee and Samsung C&T (then Cheil Industries) of 13.2 million square meters each.
In 2015, the National Pension Service valued Cheil Industries' holdings at KRW 3.2 trillion.
At that time, a domestic accounting firm evaluated the value of this land as 900 billion to 1.8 trillion won.
The land can be reported at the officially announced land price when paying the inheritance tax, but the survivors seem to have opted to report the market price through appraisal.
The inheritance tax rate applied to the property owned by Chairman Lee, such as the Everland site, is 50%.
A total of 11,000 artworks from East and West, including cultural assets that Chairman Lee had collected and held, were excluded from inheritance as 23,000 pieces were returned to society.
Nationally-designated cultural properties do not have inheritance tax, meaning pure donation. If you donate high-priced artworks by famous artists to the country, they are excluded from inheritance tax.
The overall scale of'Lee Kun-hee Collection' is not known.
The Samsung side explained, "Most of the art collections in the collection have been donated this time."
Excluding donated art works, it is estimated that the rest of the items were included in the inheritance tax payment subject through appraisal.
In addition, the private property of KRW 1 trillion, which was paid for by the establishment of a hospital specializing in infectious diseases, is also excluded from inheritance tax.
The bereaved family plans to pay the inheritance tax through an annuity for the next five years.
Along with the report payment on the 30th of this month, one-sixth of the 12 trillion won is paid 2 trillion won, and the remaining 10 trillion won is paid in installments for 5 years until 2026, adding 1.2% annual interest.
In addition to the personal property of the Samsung family, stock dividends are expected to be a major source of financial resources.
The family of five members, including Chairman Kun-hee Lee, Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, Mrs. Hong Ra-hee, President Lee Bu-jin, and Chairman Lee Seo-hyun, received a total dividend of KRW 1.37.9 billion, including Samsung Electronics’ special dividends based on last year's accounting standards.
A significant amount of this is Samsung Electronics' dividend.
However, since Samsung Electronics' special dividend has been made for the first time in the last three years, regular dividends received by the total family in the ordinary year when there is no special dividend are expected to be only KRW 800 billion, which is less than this.
The survivors seem to have provided the 2 trillion won, which they have to pay first, through deposits made with dividends and loans to financial institutions.
In fact, from the beginning of this year in the financial sector, rumors have circulated that the Samsung family is "recognizing loans."
It is also possible to receive a'tax payment guarantee' from a bank or a'tax payment guarantee insurance policy' from a guarantee insurance company as collateral for stocks, real estate, dividends, etc. without receiving the loan immediately and submit it to the National Tax Service.
From the second round, it is said that the inheritance tax will be raised through loans and stock sales.
In this case, the business community places weight on the possibility of selling Samsung SDS shares, which are not related to major governance structures such as Samsung Electronics.
Samsung SDS is owned by Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong of 9.2%, and Lee Bu-jin and Lee Seo-hyun, respectively, of 3.9% of the Samsung family, minus 0.01% of Chairman Lee Kun-hee.
In particular, although the split share of Chairman Lee Kun-hee has not been disclosed, there is a possibility that some other stocks, such as Samsung Life, will be sold without exceeding the control of Samsung Electronics.
(Photo = courtesy of Samsung, Yonhap News)