Property Tax Payment Benefits... "Enjoy Interest-Free Installments, Cashback, and Coffee Coupons"

Deadline for Payment by July 31
Active Search for Tax Saving Methods like Point Payment, Interest-Free Installments, and Cashback

[Asia Economy Reporters Sunmi Park, Hayoung Ki] "They say property tax (local tax) is reduced for single-homeowners, but since the house price exceeded 900 million KRW, the tax payment amount has increased by more than 30%. We share property tax payment benefits such as cashback and coffee coupons that you can take advantage of."

As the property tax payment deadline at the end of July approaches, internet communities are flooded with inquiries and shared posts about ways to benefit from property tax payments. This is interpreted as a result of an increase in taxable targets due to new housing construction and a sharp rise in official property prices, causing a surge in property tax amounts. Taxpayers facing increased burdens are actively seeking tax-saving methods by utilizing various benefits such as point payments, interest-free installments (partial payments), cashback, and coffee coupons.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the financial industry on the 15th, the property tax for July this year in Seoul, where real estate prices have risen significantly, amounts to a total of 4,641,000 cases and 2.3098 trillion KRW. Compared to July last year, the number of cases increased by 102,000 and the amount by 248.7 billion KRW, representing a 2.3% increase in cases and a 12.1% increase in amount. This is due to an increase in taxable targets such as new constructions and a rise in official prices by 19.89% for apartment complexes and 9.83% for single-family houses.

With the sharp increase in property tax, taxpayers are looking for ways to save even a single won or gain benefits. The most commonly used method is payment by credit card.

Property tax can be paid via account transfer to a dedicated account or through bank ATMs, but using credit card benefits allows for interest-free installment payments and additional benefits such as cashback and coffee coupons. Unlike national taxes paid by card, where taxpayers bear a fee of 0.5% (debit) or 0.8% (credit card) of the payment amount, there is no payment agency fee charged to taxpayers for property tax.

When paying taxes by card, separate points or performance accumulation are not provided, but since there are interest-free installment plans without fees and various event benefits, the perception that there is no need to pay taxes in cash is spreading.

Most card companies are running 2 to 8 months interest-free installment programs or interest-free installment events for specific sectors until the end of this month. In addition to interest-free installment benefits, some card companies offer cashback or coffee coupons.

A card industry official said, "As the property tax burden increases, more people are trying to use interest-free installment benefits provided by card companies to attract customers," adding, "Card companies do not have payment agency fees, so there is no significant profit from this, but in a situation where credit sales revenue is decreasing due to merchant fee reductions, providing tax payment benefits and acquiring new members or reactivating dormant members can increase card users, creating a win-win effect."

There is also a trick of purchasing department store gift certificates at a discount and then converting them into points to pay taxes. For example, by purchasing department store gift certificates at about 3-7% cheaper, converting them into points of affiliated companies, and paying local taxes with these points, a property tax discount effect occurs equivalent to the discount on the gift certificates.

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