[Anchor]

President Lee Jae-myung has mentioned a plan to initially impose a uniform baseline property tax, while granting tax reductions for genuine owner-occupants, and levying heavier taxes on ultra-luxury homes, multi-home owners, and speculative properties. A tax reform proposal is expected to be unveiled soon.

Reporter Jeon Hyeong-u has the details.

[Reporter]

The debate clearly outlined a direction: while single-home owners residing in their properties will not see an increased tax burden, those holding homes for investment purposes or owning ultra-luxury properties will face heavier taxation.

In particular, President Lee hinted at an exception clause for single-home owners who do not reside in their properties, questioning whether a temporary absence for other reasons should be viewed as an investment purpose.

[President Lee Jae-myung : If someone temporarily does not reside due to other circumstances, but it is for "residential" purposes, shouldn't this be treated the same as actual residence?]

However, for ultra-luxury homes, the tax burden is expected to increase regardless of occupancy.

The threshold frequently mentioned by forum participants and in online comments was a market value of 3 billion won.

Under this standard, approximately 166,000 households would be subject to the tax, extending to apartments along the Han River belt including Mapo and Seongdong.

If the threshold is set at 5 billion won, about 30,000 households—accounting for 2% of all apartments in Seoul—would be affected, primarily focusing on the three districts of Gangnam.

For an apartment in Banpo with a market value of 5.7 billion won and an officially assessed value of 5.5 billion won, this year's property tax is around 38 million won.

If the tax rate for ultra-luxury homes is raised and the maximum tax burden ceiling—currently capped at 1.5 times—is also increased, the property tax could more than double.

An apartment in Daechi-dong with a market value of 3.6 billion won and an officially assessed value of 3.2 billion won will pay about 15 million won this year, but the property tax burden is expected to vary significantly depending on whether the ultra-luxury home threshold is set at 3 billion or 5 billion won.

[Woo Byung-tak / Expert Advisor, Shinhan Premier Pathfinder : For areas corresponding to the Han River belt, the increase would be about 1.3 to 1.5 times compared to the previous year. Specifically for ultra-luxury homes, there is a possibility that the existing tax burden ceiling could be raised together to 2 or even 3 times.]

The government plans to announce a tax reform package at the end of this month or early next month, which will include price thresholds for ultra-luxury homes, increases in tax rates, and whether to lower transaction taxes.

(Video by Chae Chul-ho)