Gwanak-gu, Property Tax Relief for Residents Affected by Heavy Rain

Gwanak-gu Offers Up to 75% Reduction on Property Tax Principal, Maximum 1.5 Million KRW for Residents Affected by August Heavy Rain & Implements Refund of Unclaimed Local Taxes for All Residents, Donations Accepted During Unified Settlement Period Until November 30

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Jun-hee) is implementing a tax support project to ease the tax burden on residents by reducing property taxes for those affected by heavy rain damage and refunding local tax unclaimed amounts to all residents.

Due to the heavy rain in August, Gwanak-gu experienced 4,816 cases of residential flooding and 2,040 cases of commercial flooding. Additionally, by the end of October, 456 residential and 295 commercial cases were newly reported.

To alleviate the tax burden on residents who suffered significant damage, the district submitted a “Property Tax Reduction Agreement for Heavy Rain Victims” to the district council in October based on the Local Tax Special Cases Restriction Act. Following the approval of the proposal, support was decided.

The scale of the property tax reduction amounts to 1.17 billion KRW, benefiting 4,900 residents. The eligible recipients are owners of buildings (residential or commercial) confirmed as disaster victims on the Disaster Management Portal (NDMS) due to the heavy rain in August. Property tax can be reduced by up to 75% of the principal tax, with a maximum reduction of 1.5 million KRW.

In addition, a “Local Tax Unclaimed Amounts Mass Refund” period will be operated until the 30th for all residents.

Local tax refunds arise from reasons such as refunds of prepaid automobile transfer or cancellation fees, tax amount changes due to national tax corrections of local income tax, and double payments. Currently, Gwanak-gu’s unclaimed refund status totals 99 million KRW across 4,162 cases. However, many taxpayers fail to claim refunds due to lack of interest or mistaking notification calls for voice phishing.

Accordingly, the district is actively promoting the refund of local tax refunds by operating the mass refund period until November 30 and utilizing the KakaoTalk “Local Tax Refund” channel to enable taxpayers to receive refunds easily and quickly through various methods.

Refunds can also be donated. Those wishing to donate can send a text message to the simple application number provided in the notification SMS. Donated amounts will be contributed to the Community Chest of Korea.

The district plans to send property tax reduction notices and local tax refund notifications starting from the 14th. Recipients can send the received notification by fax, visit the district office, or conveniently receive refunds without visiting by using Seoul’s ETAX, WETAX, or STAX apps.

A district official stated, “We will continue to actively provide information so that residents do not miss out on various benefits related to tax support.”

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