Samsung empire heirs must pay almost 9 billion euros inheritance tax

The heirs of the Samsung empire, by far the largest South Korean conglomerate, announced on Wednesday that they will donate, among other things, canvases signed by Picasso, Monet, or Gauguin to settle inheritance taxes, which amount to almost 9 billion euros, according to Le Figaro.

Lee Kun-hee, the man who led Samsung Electronics to world giant status, was the richest man in South Korea at the time of his death in October at the age of 78, leaving behind an estimated fortune of 22,000 billion won (16.4 billion euros).

South Korea has very strict legislation on inheritance rights, with very high taxes. Among the heirs is the de-facto owner of the Samsung group, Lee Jae-Yong, who is currently serving a two-and-a-half year prison sentence for corruption.

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Lee’s family “expects to pay more than 12,000 billion won in inheritance tax, which is more than half of the total estate of the late president,” Samsung said in a statement. “These inheritance taxes are among the highest ever demanded in Korea and in the world,” the group said, adding that the family will pay these taxes in six installments starting this month.

The estate includes shares in Samsung Electronics, Samsung Life, and Samsung C&T, as well as land properties, according to the press release. Lee Kun-hee also owned an impressive collection of works of art estimated at between 2,000 and 3,000 billion won.

Samsung states that 23,000 works of art from this collection will be donated, including 14 listed in the national heritage. Works by Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso, Paul Gauguin, Claude Monet, Joan Miro or Salvador Dali will be donated to the National Museum of Contemporary Art, among others. The local press writes that these donations will reduce the tax bill for heirs.

Another trillion won will be donated to health charities, half of which will be used to fund the first infectious disease hospital in Seoul. Samsung accounts for one-fifth of South Korea’s GDP, the world’s 12th largest economy.