Increasing Tax Burden... Gwangmyeong's Households at Property Tax Cap Soar from '2 to 7,056' in 3 Years

Kim Sang-hoon, Member of the Future United Party [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] Amid the government's successive tax increase policies, not only in Seoul but also in Gyeonggi Province and other metropolitan cities, there has been a surge in houses with property tax reaching the 30% cap. In Gwangmyeong City, Gyeonggi Province, the number of cases hitting the property tax cap increased from just 2 in 2017 to 7,056 this year, a 3,500-fold rise.

On the 29th, Kim Sang-hoon, a member of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the United Future Party, analyzed the '2017-2020 Housing Property Tax and Officially Announced Land Price Status' submitted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and major local governments designated as speculative overheated districts. According to the analysis, in major areas of Gyeonggi Province, the number of houses with property tax increased up to the 30% cap compared to the previous year rose from 1,201 in 2017 to 64,746 this year, a 54-fold increase. The tax imposed in these areas also jumped about 61 times, from 1.91891 billion KRW in 2017 to 116.18881 billion KRW this year.

Currently, property tax on houses is capped at a 30% annual increase rate for houses with an official price exceeding 600 million KRW to prevent excessive tax burden increases. However, with the government's successive tax increase policies and the effective tax increase through the rise in the official price realization rate, the number of households with property tax rising up to the tax burden cap is rapidly increasing.

In particular, in Gwangmyeong City, Gyeonggi Province, the number of cases hitting the property tax cap increased from just 2 in 2017 to 7,056 this year, a 3,528-fold increase. The tax amount also soared from 2.85 million KRW to 10.81655 billion KRW, a 3,795-fold rise.

Next, Bundang-gu in Seongnam City saw the number of cases rise from 19 to 24,148 during the same period, a 1,270-fold increase, and the property tax amount increased from 31.51 million KRW to 44.79103 billion KRW, a 1,421-fold rise. Based on the increase in the number of capped cases, Sujeong-gu in Seongnam City (304 times), Hanam City (546 times), Dongtan 2 in Hwaseong City (269 times), Suji-gu in Yongin City (179 times), and Suwon City (92 times) followed.

The rapid increase in the number of property tax cap cases was also observed in local areas designated as speculative overheated districts. In Daejeon, the newly designated speculative overheated districts of Dong, Jung, Seo, and Yuseong-gu under the June 17 real estate measures saw the number of capped cases rise from just 4 in 2017 to 4,199 this year, a 1,050-fold increase. The tax amount also increased 1,228 times.

Nearby Sejong City also saw an increase from 33 cases in 2017 to 429 cases this year, centered around the administrative city area, a 13-fold rise. The tax amount jumped 15.6 times.

Assemblyman Kim stated, "The tax bomb on actual homebuyers caused by rising house prices has spread beyond Seoul to local areas nationwide," and added, "Even citizens who have lived in one place for a long time without any intention of speculation are paying the price of the Moon Jae-in government's real estate mismanagement through taxes." He further expressed concern, saying, "Due to the realization of official prices, the tax burden may increase further next year."

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