Retail investors pay huge chunk of stock transaction tax in 2023

Retail investors paid 4.57 trillion won (US$3.29 billion) in stock transaction tax last year, accounting for 75 percent of the total, industry data showed Saturday. The government collected around 6.06 trillion won in stock transaction tax last year, and foreign investors paid nearly 1 trillion won in the tax last year, according to the Korea Securities Depository on Saturday. The data came as the government is seeking to scrap a capital gains tax on financial investments while cutting the tax on stock transactions to 0.15 percent by 2025. But the main opposition Democratic Party opposes the move, claiming the Yoon Suk Yeol government's push to cut a variety of taxation, including inheritance tax, would lead to a further drop in tax revenue. Source: Yonhap News Agency