Samsung Heirs Announce Donation to Offset Inheritance Tax

The heirs of Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee will donate a cache of priceless artworks to the nation together with W1 trillion in cash for medical research to offset a few of their massive inheritance tax (US$1=W1,114).

The Lee family said Wednesday they will donate some 23,000 works of Korean and international art to public museums, including 60 national treasures.

Lee's widow Hong Ra-hee, son Lee Jae-yong and daughters Lee Boo-jin and Lee Seo-hyun announced they have inherited W26 trillion in assets including W19 trillion in stocks in Samsung Electronics and affiliates plus property and art. Which means the heirs owe an impressive W12 trillion in inheritance tax, which they have pledged to pay or offset over another five years.

Artworks from late Samsung chief Lee Kun-hee's collection

The amount is a lot more than the complete inheritance taxes of W10.6 trillion the government earned from 2017 to 2019. In comparison, the heirs of Apple founder Steve Jobs paid W3.4 trillion in inheritance tax in 2011.

An internal source said the family can pay one-sixth or about W2 trillion by the finish of the month and the rest of the W10 trillion over another five years. "They'll pay with their own money and by borrowing from finance institutions," the foundation added.

Loans and ready cash on that scale have reportedly proved tricky to find, and there have been fears that the Lee family would need to sell a few of their controlling stake in the publicly traded conglomerate. Lee junior was reportedly in a position to get a loan as he earned W125 billion in dividends from his stake in Samsung Electronics, but his siblings had to obtain high-interest loans from multiple finance institutions.

Charitable donations are tax-deductible.

W700 billion of the money donation will get to the National INFIRMARY to open Korea's first hospital focusing on infectious diseases and to establish a state-of-the-art research center under the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, as the other W300 billion will go to helping children with cancer and rare diseases and help treat around 17,000 pediatric patients.

The art collection will be divided up between your National Museum of Korea, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and other museums outside of Seoul. The present day collection, which include pieces by Alberto Giacometti, Francis Bacon and Mark Rothko, will be paid to the Samsung Foundation of Culture. The combined value of the artworks is estimated at around W1 trillion.

The National Museum of Korea plans an exhibition of the collection in June before it travels around the united states.