[Property Tax Shock] From 330,000 to 950,000... Number of Property Taxpayers Tripled Under Moon Government

Ruling Party's 800,000 Estimate Greatly Exceeded
Government Repeats Explanation That "98% of Citizens Are Unaffected"

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] Due to the combined effect of soaring real estate prices and an increase in the comprehensive real estate holding tax (종합부동산세, Jonghap Budongsan Se), the number of taxpayers receiving notices for the housing portion of the comprehensive real estate tax this year approached 950,000. This figure significantly exceeded even the ruling party's initial estimate of over 800,000. Considering that the number of taxpayers subject to the tax was around 330,000 in the first year of the Moon Jae-in administration, the number of notices has nearly tripled in five years, and the tax amount has increased more than tenfold.

According to the 2021 housing portion comprehensive real estate tax notice details announced by the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 22nd, the number of taxpayers this year was 947,000, and the tax amount reached 5.7 trillion won. Compared to last year, the number of taxpayers increased by 280,000 (41.9%), and the tax amount rose by 3.9 trillion won (216.7%). Compared to 2017, the first year of the Moon Jae-in administration, the number of taxpayers (332,000) increased 2.9 times in five years, and the tax amount (559.5 billion won) surged 10.2 times.

The comprehensive real estate tax is levied on individuals who own houses and land subject to property tax in Korea as of the tax base date (June 1 each year). Since the Moon Jae-in administration, with the rapid rise in real estate prices and simultaneous upward adjustments in the comprehensive real estate tax rate, fair market value ratio, and official property price realization rate, both the number of taxpayers and the tax amount have been increasing sharply every year.

Officials affiliated with the Citizens' Coalition for the Unconstitutionality of the Comprehensive Real Estate Tax posted a notice regarding the unconstitutionality claim of the comprehensive real estate tax at an apartment in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 22nd. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

The figures announced on this day greatly exceeded the ruling party's estimates. The Democratic Party of Korea's Special Committee on Real Estate had previously predicted that the number of taxpayers and tax amount for the housing portion of the comprehensive real estate tax this year would be about 765,000 and 5.7363 trillion won, respectively.

The government explained that the burden on multi-homeowners with two or more houses and corporations has increased. The tax amount notified to these groups was 5 trillion won, accounting for 88.9% of the total. This is a significant increase from last year's 57.8%. In particular, the number of taxpayers and tax amount for those owning three or more houses (including two houses in regulated areas) surged by 78% and 223%, respectively, reaching 415,000 people and 2.6 trillion won. Additionally, to prevent tax avoidance, the government strengthened corporate tax standards, resulting in the number of corporate taxpayers rising 279% to 62,000, and the tax amount soaring 311% to 2.3 trillion won compared to the previous year.

Although the government emphasized that the 'proportion' of comprehensive real estate tax paid by single-homeowner households has decreased, this is merely a visual illusion. This year, the number of single-homeowner households receiving housing portion comprehensive real estate tax notices was 132,000, an increase of about 12,000 (10%) from the previous year (120,000). The tax amount also rose by 200 billion won to 200 billion won from 120 billion won last year, an increase of 66.7%. Due to the increase in the total number of taxpayers, the proportion of the total tax amount was only 3.5%, and the share among all taxpayers decreased to 13.9% from 18% the previous year.

Meanwhile, the National Tax Service began sending out this year's comprehensive real estate tax notices starting today. They can be viewed on the Hometax system from the 22nd and will be received by mail around the 24th to 25th. The filing and payment deadline for the comprehensive real estate tax is from the 1st to the 15th of next month.

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