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All appeals are dismissed.
The costs of appeal are assessed against the plaintiffs.
Reasons
The grounds of appeal are examined.
1. As to the ground of appeal No. 1, the main text of Article 41-2(1) of the former Inheritance Tax and Gift Tax Act (amended by Act No. 7010, Dec. 30, 2003; hereinafter “former Inheritance Tax Act”) provides that “where the actual owner and the nominal owner are different in cases of property requiring registration, etc. for transfer or exercise of the right, the value of such property shall be deemed to have been donated to the actual owner on the date when it was registered, etc. as the nominal owner notwithstanding Article 14 of the Framework Act on National Taxes.” Meanwhile, the main text of Article 41-2(2) provides that “where property is registered, etc. under another’s name without any purpose of tax evasion, it shall be presumed that there exists a purpose of tax evasion.”
Even after the amendment by Act No. 7010 on December 30, 2003, the former Inheritance and Gift Tax Act stipulates the same contents as a substitute in Article 45-2.
The lower court, citing the reasoning of the first instance judgment, acknowledged the facts as indicated in its reasoning, and rejected this part of the Plaintiffs’ assertion on the ground that the evidence submitted by the Plaintiffs alone cannot be deemed as having no purpose of tax evasion in the title trust of the instant shares
Examining the record in light of the aforementioned provisions and relevant legal principles, the lower court did not err in its judgment by misapprehending the legal doctrine on the purpose of evading tax on the constructive gift of nominal trust property, as otherwise alleged in the grounds of appeal.
2. As to Article 2 of the former Inheritance and Gift Tax Act (amended by Act No. 8828 of Dec. 31, 2007), Article 63(3) of the former Inheritance and Gift Tax Act (amended by Act No. 8828 of Dec. 31, 2007), with respect to the shares of the largest shareholder and the shareholders who have a special relationship with the largest shareholder as prescribed by the Presidential Decree (hereinafter “large shareholder, etc.”) when applying the provisions