Gyeonggi-do to Conduct Special Investigation on Real Estate Illegal Activities Until the End of This Year

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province is launching a special crackdown on illegal activities such as false reporting of real estate transaction prices.

On the 18th, Gyeonggi Province announced that from this month until the end of the year, it will conduct a joint special investigation by the province and city/county offices across the entire province into suspected false or fraudulent reports of real estate transaction prices and illegal brokerage activities.

The investigation targets include, among the real estate transaction report details in the relevant areas, ▲exaggeration or understatement of transaction prices for tax evasion and increasing mortgage loan limits ▲false transaction reports involving high-price declarations followed by cancellations to manipulate real estate market prices ▲cases where false report suspicions have been raised through civil complaints or media reports.

They will also investigate the details of funding sources listed in the housing transaction financing plans in speculative overheated districts and regulated areas.

In particular, they will focus on minors acquiring houses priced over 300 million KRW, individuals under 30 years old purchasing high-priced houses exceeding 900 million KRW, and transactions involving other borrowings without loans.

Furthermore, if illegal activities by unqualified persons or licensed real estate agents are detected in transactions reported as direct deals without brokers, the Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police Unit will be requested to investigate.

The investigation will begin by requesting related explanatory materials from the transaction parties; if the submitted materials are insufficient or not provided, attendance for investigation will be required.

Even if explanatory materials are submitted, cases showing significant discrepancies from market prices or strong suspicions of tax evasion such as capital gains tax or gift tax will be reported to the relevant National Tax Service.

Those who submit false explanatory materials or false reports will face fines up to 30 million KRW, and those who falsely report transaction prices or other matters will be fined 5% of the real estate acquisition price and subjected to tax audits for suspected evasion of capital gains or gift taxes.

In the first half of this year, the province identified 333 violators of real estate transaction reporting through special investigations, imposed fines totaling approximately 1.48 billion KRW, and requested tax audits for 309 cases to the National Tax Service for tax evasion and other issues.

The province also offers a reward of up to 10 million KRW for reporting illegal real estate transactions.

Reports can be made regarding false reporting of real estate transaction prices and false reports without monetary transactions. Reports should be submitted to the real estate management department of the city, county, or district where the violating property is located.

Hong Ji-seon, Director of the Urban Housing Office of the province, stated, "We plan to focus administrative efforts on investigating illegal real estate transactions to establish a fair and transparent real estate transaction order and realize tax justice," adding, "We will reduce fines for voluntary reporters."

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