SOUTH KOREAN - The family behind the South Korean corporate giant Samsung has completed its payment of a 12 trillion won (£6bn; $8bn) inheritance tax bill, the largest such settlement in the country's history. Chairman Lee Jae-yong and other members of the family, ...
including his mother Hong Ra-hee and sisters Lee Boo-jin and Lee Seo-hyun, paid the sum in six installments over the last five years. The bill is tied to the estate left by the firm's late chairman Lee Kun-hee, who died in October 2020. Samsung is South Korea's biggest chaebol, or family-owned business, with operations spanning electronics, heavy industry, construction and financial services. Lee Kun-hee left a 26 trillion won fortune, including shares, property and art collections. At the time, the family said that "paying taxes is a natural duty of citizens". Samsung confirmed on Sunday that the final payment had been made, noting that the sum is equivalent to roughly one and a half times the country's total inheritance tax revenue for 2024. At 50%, South Korea's inheritance tax rate is among the highest in the world. (BBC)
