President Lee Jae-myung said Wednesday that the government should consider allowing multi-home owners to benefit from the capital gains tax moratorium if they file permit applications by the May 9 deadline, even if the approval process is not completed by then.
"The current understanding is that permits must be completed and contracts signed by May 9, so people seem to conclude that sales become impossible after mid-April," Lee said at a Cabinet meeting and emergency economic review session held at Cheongwadae, the presidential office. "I wonder whether that is necessary. I think we should consider allowing cases where permit applications are filed by May 9."
He instructed officials to "clarify the interpretation or review revising the regulations if needed."
Lee also noted that current rules allow homeless buyers to purchase homes from multi-home owners whose tenants' lease periods have not yet expired. "Since we revised the regulations that way, single-home owners have raised objections, asking 'Why can't we sell?' and 'Why do multi-home owners get benefits while single-home owners do not?'" he said.
"Originally, we granted that opportunity only to multi-home owners because it would effectively permit short-term gap investment," he explained. "We did it that way out of concern it might stimulate demand."
"In the current situation, the effect of increasing supply is judged to be far greater than stimulating demand," Lee said. "I ask the relevant ministries to objectively assess whether the effect of increasing demand or increasing supply would be greater."
In particular, he urged officials to "consider revising the enforcement decree, as the argument that 'single-home owners should be allowed to sell a home they are renting out' is quite reasonable."