The government will introduce a new system aimed at curbing listed companies’ largest shareholders from keeping stock prices artificially low to reduce inheritance and gift tax bills, the Ministry of Finance and Economy said Tuesday. It estimates that as many as 200 listed companies could be subject to the rules, which take effect next April. The ministry plans to revise the Inheritance Tax and Gift Tax Act, requiring shareholders of companies deemed to have suppressed their stock prices to pay at least 30 percent more in inheritance and gift taxes when transferring shares to related parties. The measures were included in the ministry’s 2026 tax reform plans announced Monday. Under current inheritance and gift tax rules, the taxable market value of KOSPI- and Kosdaq-listed shares is calculated using the average closing price over the two months before and after the date of the transfer. Because lower share prices reduce tax burdens for major shareholders, critics have long blamed the rule for encouraging owners to keep stock prices low, contributing to the chronic undervaluation of K