[Legiscope] 17 Amendment Bills to the Restriction of Special Taxation Act Proposed in the Last 30 Days... Converging on the Finance and Economic Planning Committee

Seventeen partial amendment bills to the "Restriction of Special Taxation Act" aimed at expanding the scope of tax benefits and extending sunset clauses have been proposed over the past 30 days. All the bills were submitted under the jurisdiction of the Finance and Economic Planning Committee, with 3 bills proposed in February 2026 and 14 in March 2026, respectively.

Declining Population Areas, Idle Military Lands, and Enterprise Cities — Diversification of Regional Tax Support

Demands for expanded tax benefits directly linked to the regional economy have been submitted through various channels.

In a bill proposed on February 26, Representative Cho Seung-hwan and 9 others pointed out the issue that the current "Enforcement Decree of the Restriction of Special Taxation Act" excludes metropolitan cities from declining population areas, thus preventing them from receiving tax benefits. They proposed applying the special taxation for one house per household to declining population areas located in metropolitan cities as well, in order to promote balanced regional development.

On the same day, Representative Kim Byung-joo and 15 others proposed establishing new tax benefits, including corporate tax reductions for start-ups and relocating companies in the areas, to resolve the economic contraction in regions near idle military lands resulting from the consolidation and relocation of military units. The reason for the proposal was stated as "a measure to support the economic revitalization of regions that have suffered from long-term restrictions on property rights and delayed development," and it included the establishment of new Articles 121-36 and 121-37.

In a proposal on March 11, Representative Park Jeong-ha and 9 others pointed out that the current corporate tax reduction targets in enterprise city development zones are limited to newly established workplaces, making it difficult to attract companies relocating existing workplaces. The bill proposes including relocating companies that increase their investment amount and number of employees in the tax reduction targets to promote the attraction of companies into enterprise city development zones and revitalize the regional economy.

Taxis and National Strategic Technologies — Parallel Extension of Sunset Clauses and Industrial Support

Multiple bills of an industrial support nature were also submitted.

On March 12, Representative Park Yong-gap and 17 others proposed a bill to extend the sunset deadline for regulations on value-added tax reductions for general taxis and individual consumption tax and education tax exemptions on taxi fuel by three years, from the current December 31, 2026, to December 31, 2029. The reason for the proposal cited "management difficulties in the taxi industry due to the introduction of autonomous driving technology, economic recession, and the proliferation of platform transportation businesses."

On March 11, Representative Kim Young-jin and 10 others proposed a plan to deduct itemized tax reduction amounts from income tax or corporate tax for domestic persons producing and selling products utilizing national strategic technologies. The reason for the proposal explicitly stated the purpose as "preventing the domestic departure of production facilities related to national strategic technologies and strengthening economic security," directly mentioning the trends of expanding tax support in major countries such as the United States and Japan within the proposal's rationale.

Emergence of the Finance and Economic Planning Committee Chairman's Alternative Bill

On March 18, a "Partial Amendment Bill to the Restriction of Special Taxation Act (Alternative)" under the name of the Chairman of the Finance and Economic Planning Committee was submitted separately. Given that a chairman's alternative is typically prepared by consolidating and adjusting multiple bills during the committee review process, this suggests that the concentrated proposal of the 17 bills has already entered committee-level review.

From expanding tax benefits for declining population areas to supporting companies on idle military lands, tax credits for national strategic technologies, extending reductions for the taxi industry, and reducing corporate tax for enterprise cities—the 17 bills related to special taxation currently held by the Finance and Economic Planning Committee all at once are issues that directly impact corporate location decisions, tax burdens, and investment strategies. Which of these bills' contents will be incorporated into the chairman's alternative and which will be filtered out becomes a practical cost variable.

This article was written based on Legiscope, the legislative tracking engine built by News Epoch.