Cheong Wa Dae on the 2nd said about the end date of the suspension of heavy capital gains tax on multiple-home owners, "As a social commitment and for policy consistency, we may be able to discuss other options later, but it is clear that it ends on May 9." Cheong Wa Dae Spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said at a briefing at Chunchugwan that afternoon, "The president has been repeatedly stressing that the suspension ends on May 9," adding the remarks.
Earlier, Cheong Wa Dae Policy Office Chief Kim Yong-beom said at a press meeting on the 28th of last month that, considering factors such as the "contract signing date" and "regulated areas," the government was reviewing a plan to delay the suspension date by one to two more months. He said that if a sales contract is signed by May 9, the government was discussing either postponing the application of the system in consideration of the time needed to process the final payment, or granting a further suspension only to multiple-home owners in areas that were suddenly designated as regulated under the Oct. 15 real estate measures.
Kim said, "With the Oct. 15 real estate measures expanding regulated areas, there may be cases where people did not clearly recognize that they were eligible for the suspension of the heavy capital gains tax," adding, "Whether to set the end date one to two months after May 9 is a technical matter, and we are reviewing it within a range that does not undermine the principle."
However, Cheong Wa Dae at the time also released a separate position that it "means we will closely analyze various cases and prepare detailed supplementary measures." Spokesperson Kang also said at the briefing that day, "For now, the president keeps emphasizing that the suspension ends on May 9," adding, "What the policy chief mentioned seems like something that could be discussed after that (May 9)."
Regarding President Lee Jae-myung recently signaling strong policy tools while repeatedly targeting nonresidential multiple-home owners on X (formerly Twitter), the office said, "We are deploying various policies on real estate and will do our best in terms of effective results," adding, "As for the property tax, it is premised on the idea that this would be the last resort when everything else is deemed impossible." The office added, "The president also called the property tax a 'last resort.'"
The government plans to complete revisions to the enforcement decree related to capital gains tax by mid-month at the latest. The deadline hinted at by Kim at the previous press meeting was "within one to two weeks." He said, "We will decide soon who is covered and when," adding, "If the enforcement decree is ready within one to two weeks, it will be preannounced for legislation. We will proceed as quickly as possible."
The heavy capital gains tax on multiple-home owners is a system implemented in 2021 under the Moon Jae-in administration to curb speculation. When multiple-home owners sell dwellings in regulated areas, an additional ▲20 percentage points (p) for two dwellings ▲30 p for three or more dwellings is added to the basic rate of 6–45%. Including the 10% local income tax, the top rate for three dwellings is 82.5%. Immediately after the launch of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, the enforcement decree was revised to suspend this annually, but President Lee said it was an "abnormal stalling" and said the government would not extend it further.