"Left Home to Care for Grandchildren"... Over 2,500 Complaints in Five Days

[Anchor]

In less than a week since the real estate tax reform proposal was announced, more than 2,500 complaints have been filed with the government. In particular, there has been a strong backlash regarding the requirements for recognizing actual residency. Some people say their tax burden will increase just because they moved to help raise their grandchildren.

Reporter Jeon Hyeong-u has the details.

[Reporter]

Five days after the real estate tax reform proposal was announced for legislative notice on the 4th, more than 2,500 legislative comments were submitted.

While opinions mainly centered on the excessive increase in the comprehensive real estate tax burden, calls to expand the criteria for recognizing actual residency also continued.

The current reform proposal includes an exception clause that recognizes a three-year residency period even for non-residents if special circumstances are acknowledged.

These include children's education, job changes, school transfers, and supporting parents, and there have been calls to include childcare as well.

Grandparents who move into or near their children's homes to take care of their grandchildren may become non-resident single-home owners, leading to a significant increase in property taxes. They are asking for such circumstances to be reflected.

[Non-resident Single-Home Owner: We decided that since we were going to take care of our (grandchildren) anyway, we should move close by. We didn't move around to make a fortune. We are retirees living on pensions.]

However, some point out that a cautious approach is necessary because expanding the grounds for recognizing actual residency could also increase the possibility of gap investments being exploited.

While gathering opinions on the tax reform proposal, the Democratic Party decided to hold the first meeting of its internal housing market stabilization task force this week.

[Han Jeong-ae, Policy Committee Chair of the Democratic Party: We will listen to various voices, gather them, and go through the process of moving forward.]

Following the legislative notice period until the 20th, the government plans to submit the final plan, prepared through party-government consultations, to the National Assembly before the 3rd of next month.

In addition, the government plans to announce additional housing supply measures and financial support plans for the Seoul metropolitan area as early as this week.

(Camera: Choi Jun-shik | Video Editing: Park Chun-bae)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.