The government will launch efforts to revise the criteria for automobile taxation to be based on vehicle prices rather than engine displacement.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on Wednesday that it will, together with the Korea Institute of Local Finance, form a team sometime this month tasked with devising the new criteria and gather opinions on the matter from experts and related government agencies to come up with a proposal by the first half of next year.

The ministry then plans to pursue efforts to legislate the new criteria in the second half of next year by producing a bill on revisions to local taxes.

The move comes after the presidential office instructed related agencies last week to revise the current system of taxing cars based on engine displacement, citing the results of a debate involving the public.

The fairness of car taxes has emerged as an issue with imported cars facing a lower tax burden than domestic cars given that they have smaller engine displacement relative to their prices.

As a result, if the criteria is changed, owners of imported cars are expected to see their tax burdens rise while owners of domestic cars will face less tax pressure.