Samsung heirs to pay 10.8 billion dollars in inheritance taxes

The heirs of Lee Kun Hee, the chairman of the telecommunications giant Samsung who died in October, will pay more than 12 trillion won (10.8 billion dollars) in inheritance taxes, they said on Wednesday.

The Lee Family said in a statement released via Samsung Electronics that the inheritance taxes will amount to more than half the value of the late chairman's total estate, saying the total is "one of the largest ever in Korea and globally."

According to the family the amount is equivalent to three to four times the Korean government's total estate tax revenue in 2020.

News agency Yonhap reported that the tax will be the largest-ever in South Korea's history.

The Lee family said it would pay the amount in six instalments over five years starting this month.

"It is our civic duty and responsibility to pay all taxes," the family said.

The chairman's heirs also said they would donate 1 trillion won to "efforts to help overcome infectious diseases, childhood cancer" as well as some 23,000 art pieces including works by Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso and Claude Monet.

The statement did not say how the Lee family would divide the inheritance, which includes shareholdings in Samsung Electronics.

Lee, who had been South Korea's richest man since 2009, was survived by his wife, two daughters and a son.

His assets were estimated to be worth more than 25 trillion won when real estate is counted, according to Yonhap.