"Real Estate Taxes Are Too Complicated"... Capital Gains Tax Inquiries to National Tax Service Double

Real Estate Tax Inquiries Submitted to the National Tax Service from January to July Exceed 90% of Last Year's Total

Total of 2,726 Questions on Capital Gains, Comprehensive Real Estate Holding, and Inheritance and Gift Taxes

There has been a sharp increase in inquiries about real estate taxation this year. Experts point out that the government’s adjustments to the real estate tax system—including the resumption of the heavy capital gains tax for owners of multiple properties and changes to long-term holding special deductions—have led to increased uncertainty for taxpayers. In particular, inquiries regarding the capital gains tax have nearly doubled compared to last year.

According to data submitted to the National Assembly’s Strategy and Finance Committee by Lee Jongwook, a member of the People Power Party, as of September 14, 2026, a total of 2,726 inquiries related to the interpretation of tax laws on capital gains tax, comprehensive real estate holding tax, and inheritance and gift tax were submitted to the National Tax Service between January and July this year. This figure is already 91.3% of the total number of inquiries recorded for all of last year (2,987 cases).

Apartment complex in Songpa-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

The National Tax Service operates a “tax law interpretation inquiry” system to help taxpayers resolve tax issues they face in both business activities and daily life. When taxpayers submit questions regarding the application of tax laws—either in writing or through Hometax—the National Tax Service reviews the relevant laws and provides a response. Real estate tax-related inquiries received through this system surged to 7,073 cases in 2021, then decreased to 4,389 in 2022 and 2,349 in 2023, but rose again to 2,673 in 2024 and 2,987 last year, marking two consecutive years of increase.

By tax category, inquiries related to capital gains tax were the most common, totaling 2,262 cases. This accounted for 83% of all inquiries related to capital gains, comprehensive real estate holding, and inheritance/gift taxes. This is about two times the number recorded from January to July last year (1,140 cases), and 95% of the total annual inquiries in 2023 (2,365 cases). The number of related inquiries has risen due to two independent factors: the reinstatement of the heavy capital gains tax for multiple property owners on May 10, and, ahead of the August announcement of the tax reform proposal, the possibility of abolishing the deduction for long-term holding periods and introducing limits on the capital gains tax deduction.

As the number of tax law interpretation inquiries has increased, so too have unresolved cases. Unanswered inquiries regarding real estate-related taxes—including capital gains, comprehensive real estate holding, and inheritance/gift tax—increased from 1,062 cases in 2024 to 1,194 last year, and totaled 1,578 by the end of July this year. Of particular note, the number of unresolved inquiries that had exceeded 365 days after submission reached 230 by July this year, which is 2.3 times the total for all of last year (100 cases). There were also 372 cases unresolved for more than 180 days and 369 cases unresolved for more than 90 days.

Assemblyman Lee stated, "The fact that the volume of real estate tax law interpretation inquiries up to July this year nearly matches last year's total is a clear signal that the government has caused confusion among the public and market, and this should be taken very seriously." He added, "Rather than attempting to cover up real estate policy failures with further tax reforms, the government must operate the real estate tax system in a simple and stable manner, enabling the public to easily understand and predict their tax burden."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.