South Korea Revenue From Real Estate Tax To Be Three Times Higher
A revision to South Korea's real estate holding tax law will help the government collect 5.7 trillion won ($4.8 billion) in such taxes in 2021, the finance ministry said on a threefold increase compared to 2020. The government revised the law last year, increasing the holding tax rate for homeowners, as part of efforts to cool the country's red-hot real estate market. The changes took effect this year. Since President Moon Jae-in took office in 2017, his government has rolled out dozens of loan curbs and tax measures which have done little to cool the property market. The average price of an apartment in the capital city Seoul has roughly doubled since 2016 to 1.18 billion won as of August, Kookmin Bank data showed. Park, who is among the 947,000 people or 2% of South Korea's 52 million population subject to the tax increase this year, said he owes 6.3 times as much taxes on his real estate holdings in 2021 compared to 2020 due to the tax increase. Under the changes, the holding tax rate that owners of multiple properties have to pay per year was raised to as much as 6% from 3.2% previously. The finance ministry said only a small portion of property owners face a tougher tax burden due to the policy aimed at stabilising the housing market. Others, however, said they are not bothered as the tax only applies to those who own some of the highest valued homes in the country.
Tags : INTERNATIONAL Finance Ministry Government housing market tax South Korea homeowners Kookmin Bank