SEOUL, Aug. 4 (Yonhap) -- The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) on Tuesday blasted the government's proposed tax code revisions, accusing the Lee Jae Myung administration of placing more burden on homeowners with higher property taxes.

The criticism came a day after the finance ministry announced a new set of tax code revisions aimed at imposing a heavier tax burden on owners of high-end homes and homeowners who do not reside in their properties.

"Despite being called a 'revision,' the proposal is full of irresponsible measures that seek to pick the pockets of citizens to make up for the lack of budget and neglect people's livelihoods," Rep. Jung Hee-yong, the party's secretary-general, said in a Facebook post.

PPP floor leader Jeong Jeom-sig stepped up his criticism of Lee, accusing him of reversing the stance he had as a presidential candidate against using taxes to curb housing prices.

"This is the worst tax hike that raises both property holding and transaction taxes at the same time, ignoring the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)'s recommendations that transaction taxes should be lowered if property taxes are raised," he wrote on Facebook.

Rep. Jeong warned the additional tax burden will be ultimately passed onto tenants in the form of higher monthly rents and "jeonse," a unique housing rental system in South Korea, under which tenants hand over a large lump-sum deposit to the landlord instead of paying monthly rent.

"Lee's real estate policies as president run completely counter to what he promised as a presidential candidate," he added.

Rep. Choi Eun-seok, the PPP's senior floor spokesperson, slammed the current administration as an "amateur government" that pressed the "button for a nuclear bomb."

"Just early this year, President Lee compared real estate taxes to a 'nuclear bomb' and described them as a last resort that should not be used lightly," he said in a commentary. "Looking back, that was all absolute bluff."

He urged Lee to acknowledge the failure of his housing policies and issue a public apology.

The proposal came as the government seeks to adopt what it calls a more "reasonable" tax system for the property market amid the country's soaring housing prices.

One of the key changes in the revision is a restructuring of the comprehensive real estate holding tax, under which tax rates will be determined by the total value of homes owned rather than the number of homes a person owns.

The government also plans to ease the tax burden on single-home owners who live in the property by raising tax exemptions.

julesyi@yna.co.kr

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