Ahn Cheol-soo calls for scrapping ISA tax reform, says it pushes all Koreans into 'mindless domestic investing'

People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo has called for the complete withdrawal of the government's proposed ISA reforms included in its 2026 tax overhaul package, announced Monday.

Ahn posted on Facebook that day, saying the government had "hidden a poison clause that raids the accounts of retail investors" in the securities portion of the plan, while real estate tax issues also loomed. He said the proposal amounted to "nerfing the ISA — the people's savings account."

He described the ISA as "an account with a three-year contract that can be extended indefinitely, with an annual carryover limit of 20 million won ($14,000)" — a share account that supports compound growth and asset accumulation through long-term index investing, not only in the Kospi but also in US benchmarks such as NASDAQ and the S&P 500.

Ahn said the Lee Jae Myung administration's plan would abolish the 20 million won annual carryover limit and cap the contract period at five years. He added that the changes would apply retroactively to existing account holders as well as new ones, "drastically narrowing the scope of benefits."

He also said the government planned to introduce a new "productive finance ISA" as a compensatory measure, requiring transfers from existing ISAs upon maturity — but noted that the new account would be restricted to domestic investments only, barring investment in overseas index ETFs.

Ahn said the ISA reform "amounts to shoving the entire nation into mindless domestic stock investing," adding that the ISA "is essential for retirement preparation, optimized for ultra-long-term index and dividend investing with compound returns. This government has gutted the ISA with this tax overhaul."

"This ISA tax reform looks like it was designed by someone with no understanding of the stock market whatsoever," he said. "It must be scrapped entirely."