(Image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Jul. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — After new tax regulations came in effect on July 1 that allow book purchases and live performance tickets to qualify as income tax deductions, vendors have seen a notable increase in relevant sales.
According to Yes 24, a leading online bookstore, the sales volume of books in the first week following the new measure grew 15 percent compared to the same period last year.
The nation’s largest live performance ticket box office and internet bookstore, Interpark, reported that the sales of both live performance tickets and books increased 18 percent for the period from July 1 to July 10 compared to the ten days previous (June 21 to 30).
Park Seung-joo, the marketing team leader at Interpark’s book division, said that the new tax rules have sparked interest in cultural activities.
“We hope that more people will be able to enjoy various cultural activities especially as large corporations cut down on working hours,” said Park.
Kim Gi-ho, the CEO of Yes 24, also shared such hopeful sentiments about the industry’s future prospects, saying that he hopes the new tax regulations will help the industry to create high quality content.
When books or live performance tickets are bought with credit cards, tax paying citizens will be able to obtain further tax benefits under the new law.
For workers who earn less than 70 million won per year, the deduction rate for books and live performances is 30 percent, with 1 million won being the maximum limit.
The new tax code will be applied at the next income tax filing period.
H. S. Seo (hsseo@koreabizwire.com)
