Seodaemun "Sense(Sei)ation" Team Wins Grand Prize Again at National Local Tax Research Competition

The Seodaemun District local tax research club "Sense(稅)ation," led by Mayor Seongheon Lee, has once again achieved notable results at a national competition.

On October 28, the district announced that the Seodaemun "Sense(稅)ation" research club won the grand prize at the "2025 National Local Tax Research Club Excellent Thesis Presentation Contest," hosted by the Korea Institute of Local Taxation (President Kang Seongjo). The contest was held on October 23 in the main conference room on the third floor of Seodaemun District Office.

The Seodaemun District local tax research club team "Sense(稅)ation" won the grand prize at the "2025 National Local Tax Research Club Excellent Thesis Presentation Contest." Seongheon Lee, Mayor of Seodaemun District (center), and related staff are taking a commemorative photo. Provided by Seodaemun District.

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Seodaemun District has once again demonstrated its leading role in fostering a research culture for local taxation, continuing its six-year winning streak with a presentation on "Rational Improvement Measures for the Heavy Acquisition Tax on High-End Housing."

The Seodaemun "Sense(稅)ation" team raised the issue that the standards for high-end housing need to reflect current realities, pointing out that the existing system is still based on area rather than actual market conditions in the real estate sector.

In particular, the team highlighted the situation where multi-family housing units worth over 5 billion or 10 billion won are designed to avoid area-based criteria, resulting in tax differences of hundreds of millions of won even when the area is less than 1 square meter. They proposed abolishing or relaxing the area-based standard, shifting to a price-based taxation standard, and introducing a progressive tax rate, all aimed at improving the system based on actual property value. These concrete and effective alternatives received high praise from the judges.

Seongheon Lee, Mayor of Seodaemun District, stated, "Fair taxation is a bridge of trust between citizens and administration," adding, "I hope this research will lead to actual laws and systems, setting a new standard for tax equity." He further emphasized, "Seodaemun District will continue to pursue tax administration innovation and institutional improvement that taxpayers can truly feel."

This research by Seodaemun District is expected to be utilized as a policy improvement task by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and other government agencies in the future.

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