고향사랑기부제도에 관한 연구

Abstract Local governments located in the non-metropolitan area are now facing the problem of regional extinction due to the outflow of population to the metropolitan area and the low birth rate and aging population. Local governments in the non-metropolitan area are facing chronic shortages of financial resources or tax revenues as well as population problems, and their dependence on the central government's grant tax is intensifying. In this situation, among the policies that local governments try to overcome the crisis of local extinction by increasing their fiscal independence and revitalize the local economy, the "Hometown Love Donation System" was introduced as a system to compensate for the lack of finances of local governments. Originally, the hometown love donation system was introduced by modifying the hometown tax system, which was implemented in Japan, according to the situation in Korea, and in 2021, the "Hometown Love Donation Act" (hereinafter referred to as the "Hometown Love Donation Act") was enacted to implement the hometown love donation system. The hometown love donation system allows people who have left their hometowns for employment and study to donate a certain amount to local governments in their hometowns, which can raise funds to promote projects or new projects with the donated money. Donators will also be able to receive tax benefits for the amount donated to their hometowns in addition to the reward of developing their hometowns. The purpose of this study is to analyze the legal nature and policy implications of the hometown love donation system, which will be implemented in earnest in the future through comparative studies with Japan's hometown tax system, and to propose legislative and policy improvement measures for future system improvement by reviewing limitations and issues in the system's operation process.