In addition, wage earners who want to have expenses for medical expenses or contributions for W2 million or over deducted from their taxable income will be required to submit government forms for a receipt and the details of the expenses to their employer. The tax deduction for the medical expenses and contributions will take effect from January 1 next year and January 1, 2005, respectively.

The Ministry of Finance and Economy (MOFE) announced Wednesday that it has confirmed a revision bill for the nation's taxation acts. The bill includes the above changes, to take effect by a Cabinet vote next month.

The revision bill also proposed that the current value-added tax on apartment remodeling expenditures for apartment units smaller than 25.7 pyeong (one pyeong equals 3.3 square meters). The nation's 1.8 million self-employed individuals are also to be be exempted from taxes on their medical insurance premiums.

According to the revision proposal, those who incurred physical damages during the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement and those suffering from the use of defoliants are included on the list of consumers who would be exempt from the special consumption tax on a car purchase.

The ceiling for a tax deduction on the cash expenditures is set at up to 20 percent of the cash spending over 10 percent of wage earners' annual income, the same as the current tax deduction for the expenditures on credit cards. (Yoon Young-shin, ysyoon@chosun.com )