Kim Min-seok, a candidate running in the Democratic Party of Korea leadership election, said on the 14th that the government's released real estate tax reform plan is "effectively a tax hike for non-resident owners of a single home with a market price of 1.2 billion won or more, which applies to most apartments in Seoul," referring to the abolition of the holding deduction for non-resident single-home owners.
Posting on X (formerly Twitter) the same day, Kim said, "On the premise of agreeing with the broad direction of the recently released real estate tax reform plan, I think we need to discuss fine-tuning the details," and stated accordingly.
Kim added, "Because there are a considerable number of middle-class non-resident single-home owners nationwide, we should be especially mindful that changes to their taxes could trigger ripple effects in the jeonse and monthly rent markets," noting that "(abolishing the holding deduction for non-resident single-home owners under the capital gains tax) has raised concerns that it could cause side effects such as forcing tenants to move out."
Kim also said, "Even if the current comprehensive real estate tax system is kept as is, the tax burden on non-residents naturally increases as the officially assessed price rises, so how about improving only by raising the basic deduction for actual residents to 1.4 billion won."
Earlier, the government unveiled a plan to abolish the long-term holding special deduction in 2029 and replace it with a "long-term residence income deduction" that accounts only for the period of residence. The comprehensive real estate tax would be levied starting at an officially assessed price of 1.4 billion won, while the deduction for non-resident single-home owners would be reduced from 1.2 billion won to 900 million won. Kim effectively indicated that most parts of the government's tax reform plan need refinement.
Kim said, "It is also undesirable to differentiate between joint spousal ownership and sole ownership, whether the owner resides in the home or not," adding, "There is also room for debate on incentives for those aged 65 and older to relocate to non-metropolitan areas."