"Real Estate Tax Inequity… A Two-Year Grace Period for Multiple Homeowners"

[Anchor]

President Lee Jae-myung pointed out issues regarding fairness with earned income, mentioning the real estate tax reform package announced yesterday (the 3rd). He also pushed back against criticisms that granting a phased application to the heavier capital gains tax on multiple homeowners amounts to giving them an exit route and shows a lack of policy consistency.

Reporter Kang Min-u has the details.

[Reporter]

President Lee pointed out that while the effective top tax rate on earned income reaches 49.5%, real estate capital gains taxes fall far short of that, arguing that the system protects real estate speculation rather than housing protection.

[President Lee Jae-myung : Right now, even when real estate capital gains reach tens of billions of won, the taxes are only a few hundred million won, right? Making tens of billions of won through investments while paying almost no tax is terribly unfair compared to the earned income of workers.]

He also actively refuted criticisms regarding the heavy capital gains tax on multiple homeowners—which was revived last May—being softened to a phased implementation in just three months.

[President Lee Jae-myung : There have been criticisms asking if we are giving multiple homeowners an opportunity or effectively extending it, and claiming there is a lack of policy consistency. But that is not true.]

He explained that rather than abolishing the heavy taxation entirely, it was temporarily lowered and will be increased in phases, thereby opening an exit route for two years.

Immediately after returning to the country yesterday, President Lee presided over a review meeting on the real estate and stock markets that lasted for over 7 hours, focusing intensively on swift real estate supply measures.

Reviewing the status of new housing site developments such as the Taereung Golf Course, the Gwacheon Racecourse, and the Counterintelligence Command site in Seoul, President Lee instructed Prime Minister Han Sung-sook and ministers of related ministries to comprehensively reexamine the supply measures.

The issue of single-stock leverage ETFs, cited as a cause of the stock market's sharp fluctuations, was also discussed. A Cheong Wa Dae official stated, "Rather than a structural problem with ETFs, it overlaps with the tendencies of domestic investors and liquidity," adding, "Opinions emerged that publicity and awareness campaigns might be more necessary than institutional improvements."

(Camera filming: Jeong Sang-bo, Ha Ryung | Video editing: Lee Seung-jin | Design: Kang Yun-jung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.