Kim Jin-ae "Strengthen Comprehensive Real Estate Tax but Defer Payment for Single-Homeowners"

Yoon Ho-jung, Chairman of the National Assembly Judiciary Committee, is greeting Kim Jin-ae, a member of the Open Democratic Party, after concluding the plenary session of the Legislative and Judiciary Committee held at the National Assembly on the 16th. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] Kim Jin-ae, the floor leader of the Open Democratic Party, proposed strengthening the comprehensive real estate tax while introducing a tax payment deferral system as a consideration for single-homeowners.

On the 27th, at a press conference, Representative Kim said, "The system for low-income elderly who actually reside in a single home per household needs to be supplemented. That is the tax payment deferral system," adding, "It is time to consider payment convenience that allows deferred taxes to be paid in a lump sum when transfers such as sales, inheritance, or gifts occur."

She continued, "If a payment convenience system is introduced, it will reduce the burden on many actual residents who find the comprehensive real estate tax burdensome and oppose it, and it can resolve the backlash against the comprehensive real estate tax."

She opposed tax reductions for long-term holdings. Representative Kim stated, "We must thoroughly distinguish between actual demand based on residence and speculative demand aimed at asset accumulation," and pointed out, "The United Future Party has proposed a bill to exclude the comprehensive real estate tax for single-homeowners per household, and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea has also proposed a bill to raise the comprehensive real estate tax deduction limit up to 80% for single-homeowners. However, this not only undermines tax equity but also risks reinforcing the phenomenon of concentrating on a ‘smart single home.’"

Regarding the United Future Party’s opposition to strengthening holding taxes, she criticized, "Do they not want a healthy housing market? Do they want to leave short-term speculative profits as they are? Are they siding with speculative forces? Or are they trying to ignore the dissatisfaction of the majority of citizens who are complaining about soaring housing prices and housing instability?"

Representative Kim also said, "The so-called comprehensive real estate tax bomb theory by some media is largely exaggerated," and added, "According to data received from the National Tax Service, only 20 individuals were subject to the highest tax rate as of 2018. It is hard to understand how a 6% tax rate applied to 20 people owning real estate with a taxable value of 9.4 billion KRW and a market value of 15 billion KRW or more can be called a tax bomb." The number of people subject to the comprehensive real estate tax is also less than 1% of the entire population.

She further emphasized, "The official property price, which is considerably lower than the actual price, should be normalized, and the current six-tier taxable value brackets for the comprehensive real estate tax should be subdivided into seven tiers with higher rates to significantly increase the tax burden on high-priced homes," adding, "Currently, the 1.2 billion to 5 billion KRW bracket includes about 10,000 people, but the bracket is too broad and causes many inequities. By subdividing this, more people owning real estate should bear higher taxes to enhance overall effectiveness."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.