People’s Korea is a Unique Socialist Country without Taxation -special article by Dr Dermot Hudson

                                                                            

The 21st of March will see the 50th anniversary of the abolition of taxation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea(DPRK) . It has been 50 years since People’s Korea put taxation in the bin becoming the first ever state in history to do so ! This is a phenomenal achievement when you consider that in capitalist countries taxes are rising all the time . The other day I received my annual council tax bill which has risen from £115 to £119 per month, an increase of 3.47 per cent . When I first moved into my present home the Council tax was £86 per month , so basically it has increased by £33 or an increase of 38 per cent . I am often mystified by what Council tax is even for !

The Supreme People’s Assembly of the DPRK on the 21st of March 1974 passed the historic law of the DPRK on completely abolishing taxation which decreed as follows ;

“1. The tax system, a vestige of the old society, shall be abolished completely,

2. The Administration Council of the DPRK shall take measures to implement this law, and

3. The law shall be effective from April 1, 1974”

When People’s Korea passed this law it took a great leap forward in the future , basically solving a problem that had existed for centuries . In the UK , taxation goes right back to the days of Anglo -Saxon England . There is an old adage that in life only two things are a certainty ; death and taxes . However , at one stroke People’s Korea abolished taxes.

It had been the plan of President KIM IL SUNG and Chairman KIM JONG IL to abolish taxation . The idea was first put forward at the 4th Congress of the Workers Party of Korea in September 1961 . Later on the 13th of January 1962 Chairman KIM JONG IL gave a talk to university students titled “On Our Party’s People’s Oriented Policy of Ultimately Abolishing the Tax System “.

The DPRK abolished taxation in several stages In the period 1964-1966 peasants were freed from agricultural tax in kind . Only income tax and local authority tax remained , By the 1970s taxes accounted for only a small fraction of state revenue . So on the 21st of March 1974 President KIM IL SUNG declared that;

 “The abolition of taxation in our country is based on the advantages of our socialist system and accords completely with the law of development of this system” 

Thus taxation was abolished in the DPRK for good . However other socialist countries at the time did not abolish taxation and today several countries calling themselves socialist have tax . In the imperialist countries taxation just went up and up.

The abolition of taxation in the DPRK was a people-oriented measure to fully free working people from the last vestiges of the exploiter society . Only People’s Korea , a true socialist country based on the Juche idea , could do this .

Dr Dermot Hudson

Chairman , Korean Friendship Association UK 

Chairman British Group for the Study of the Juche Idea 

President Association for the Study of Songun Politics UK

Hon secretary general International Central Committee for Songun Study