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| ▲ This file photo, taken March 15, 2022, shows apartment buildings in Seoul. (Yonhap) |
real estate-taxation
S. Korea to ease property-related tax burdens of owners of one home
SEOUL, March 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea said Wednesday it plans to ease tax burdens of owners of a single home amid skyrocketing home prices.
The measures -- which are set to be announced at 11 a.m. -- are meant to prevent the owners of one home from additionally shouldering the burden of paying real estate-related taxes.
The government plans to let the owners of one home pay similar amounts of property-holding taxes to those of last year on a temporary basis, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said at a meeting on the housing policy.
One-home owners aged 60 and older will also be allowed to postpone the payment of the so-called comprehensive real estate taxes, Hong added.
Public discontent over the Moon Jae-in administration's real estate policy mounted as skyrocketing home prices drove up tax burdens on homeowners and raised costs for people who seek to rent or buy homes.
The latest measures come as the country's state-assessed price value for homes has sharply increased in tandem with rising home prices.
In South Korea, the government taxes land and homes based on its annual assessment value instead of the actual market value.
The average government-assessed housing prices rose 19.08 percent across the nation last year, the sharpest on-year gain in 14 years. The government plans to raise state-evaluated prices for all types of real estate, including apartments and land, to up to 90 percent of their market prices in the next 10-15 years.
During the election campaigning, President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol promised to ease the comprehensive real estate tax for owners of one home and overhaul other property-related taxes.
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