gettyimagesbank

In the past five years, approximately 2,800 newborns have been granted inheritances at birth, with the total value of these inherited assets amounting to around 280 billion won ($207 million). On average, each newborn received about 100 million won, data showed Sunday.

According to data from the National Tax Service, 636 newborns filed gift tax reports last year, with the total value of gifted assets reaching 61.5 billion won. From 2019 to 2023, a total of 2,829 newborns received gifts amounting to 275.4 billion won.

Rep. Park Sung-hoon of the ruling People Power Party obtained and released the data.

The amount of inheritance received by newborns seems to be influenced by real estate prices.

In 2020, the total value of inherited assets was approximately 9.1 billion won. However, when housing prices skyrocketed in 2021, the scale of inheritances rose significantly to 80.6 billion won. It further increased to 82.5 billion won in 2022 before declining last year for the first time in three years.

Expanding the scope, about 14,494 minors under 18 filed gift tax returns last year, totaling around 1.58 trillion won. Over the past five years, 73,964 minors have filed gift tax returns, totaling 8.21 trillion won.

Park, emphasizing the importance of proactive tax audits and post-monitoring, said, "We need a thorough investigation to determine whether any manipulative gifting practices or tax evasion occurred during the wealth transfer process."