'Bumochance' Minor Rental Income of Over 54.8 Billion Won...Teenage Landlords Increased by 30% Over 5 Years

2021 Minor Rental Income 54.8 Billion Won

The rental income earned by minor landlords in 2021 reached approximately 54.8 billion KRW.

On the 10th, Yang Kyung-sook, a member of the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, analyzed data received from the National Tax Service and found that the number of minor landlords increased every year from 2017 to 2021.

A rental notice is posted at a store in Insadong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jin-Hyung Kang aymsdream@

There were 2,415 in 2017, 2,684 in 2018, 2,842 in 2019, 3,004 in 2020, and 3,136 in 2021. This represents about a 30% increase over five years.

In 2021, the 3,136 minor landlords earned a total rental income of approximately 54.8 billion KRW. This averages to about 17.48 million KRW per person. Among them, 2,820 were commercial landlords with an average annual rental income of 17.7 million KRW. The minors who rented out residential properties numbered 144, earning an average of 15.28 million KRW.

From 2017 to 2021, the total rental income earned by minors was recorded at 271.634 billion KRW.

As the number of real estate unearned income earners benefiting from parental advantages rapidly increases, exacerbating unfairness at the starting line, there are calls to actively investigate tax evasion such as irregular inheritance and irregular gifts by minors.

Representative Yang said, "The number of minor landlords earning unearned income from real estate is steadily increasing," adding, "Since a significant portion of minors' real estate likely belongs to their parents, the National Tax Service must thoroughly investigate to prevent tax evasion, disguised gifts, or inheritance."

Unfairness through parental advantages is not limited to real estate. In 2020, it was found that about 4,000 so-called 'gold spoon' minors had financial income exceeding 20 million KRW annually, combining interest and dividends.

The number of minors with financial income exceeding 20 million KRW reached 3,987. The total financial income they reported was 710.8 billion KRW, averaging 180 million KRW per person. Among them, 765 were preschool children under the age of six.

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