The main opposition Democratic United Party said Monday it will seek to raise tax rates for high-income earners and conglomerates to use the proceeds to bolster welfare programs for the working class and the underprivileged.

The move came as the party tries to woo voters ahead of December’s presidential election. The proposed changes are designed mainly to roll back tax cuts and benefits that the government of President Lee Myung-bak pursued under his business-friendly policies.

The party said it will seek to reflect the proposed changes in an annual tax revision.

The proposal calls for imposing a 38 percent income tax rate on those who make 150 million won ($132,860) or more. Under the current rules, those who earn between 150 million won and 300 million won are required to pay a 35 percent tax rate while the 38 percent rate is for those making more than 300 million won.

The revision is expected to boost the government’s tax revenue by 1.2 trillion won, it said.

Other proposed changes include lowering the minimum amount of money taxable for interest or dividends from the current 40 million won per person to 30 million won, and raising corporate tax rates to 22 percent for companies with taxable income between 200 million won to 50 billion won and to 25 percent for firms with taxable income of more than 50 billion won.

The measure is expected to boost corporate tax revenue by 3 trillion won a year.

The additional revenue will be used to “beef up welfare” programs, such as providing students with free lunch at schools and lowering college tuition, said Rep. Lee Yong-sup, policy maker of the opposition party. 

(Yonhap News)