Cho Kuk, head of the Rebuilding Korea Party's Innovation Policy Institute, criticized the government's tax reform plan, saying it "heightened public expectations by foreshadowing sweeping real estate reform, but the result that emerged fell short of those expectations."
Writing on his Facebook on the 4th, Cho said, "The tax burden has been strengthened only for owners of a few ultra-high-priced apartments and multi-home holders, while the majority of high-priced home owners see little change."
He wrote that "strengthening the ownership tax burden on non-residential and ultra-high-priced homes and shifting the taxation standard toward 'actual residence' and 'price' is positive," but added that "normalizing tax fairness was pushed back while exceptions and special provisions were expanded."
Cho pointed in particular to the fact that the comprehensive real estate tax burden on owners of a single high-priced home did not increase sufficiently. Citing an analysis by the Tax and Fiscal Reform Center of People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, he said, "For a resident single-home owner of a property with a market value of 3 billion won, the comprehensive real estate tax before tax deductions will fall from 2.76 million won in 2026 to 2.34 million won after 2028, which is even less than the roughly 3.02 million won for a two-home owner in an area subject to adjustment with a market value of 2 billion won."
He continued, "Because residence deductions and elderly deductions combined amount to a maximum deduction of 80%, for a home with a market value of 4 billion won, the actual burden falls from a comprehensive real estate tax of 7.34 million won before deductions to about 1.47 million won at the maximum deduction." His point was that it is inappropriate for the government to expand benefits for owners of a single high-priced residential home while strengthening the taxation system centered on asset value and actual residence rather than the number of homes.
While assessing the shift of the comprehensive real estate tax long-term holding tax deduction toward long-term residence as "the right direction," he criticized that "the maximum deduction rate of 80% when combined with the elderly deduction is still high." He also raised questions about effectiveness regarding the tax deduction limit set at 8 million won in 2027 and 6 million won after 2028.
Cho also criticized, "The temporary easing once again of the heavier capital gains tax on multi-home owners is something that undermines the predictability of the tax system," saying, "It will be received as the government having compromised with the speculative market." Taking issue with the government's decision to lower the heavier tax rates for 2027-2028 just three months after ending the moratorium on the heavier capital gains tax last May, he pushed back, saying, "It has once again planted the mistaken conviction that if you hold out, taxes will be cut."
Cho argued, "This tax reform appears to have targeted only 'non-residential high-priced home owners' under a policy of minimizing negative impact on the 2028 general election and the 2027 Seoul mayoral by-election, which has become a possibility," adding, "Since this reform will only be implemented in earnest after 2028, there is no guarantee it will not be shaken by the changed political environment and pressures after the general election."
He suggested, "The real estate and inequality problems cannot be solved by tax normalization alone," and said, "Real estate taxation should be approached consistently from the perspective of long-term tax justice, while at the same time a bold and innovative plan to supply high-quality public housing should be announced and pursued."
He added, "I have stressed that a 'high-quality public housing market' capable of competing with the private market must be formed on a large scale," and said, "Breaking the private-dependent housing supply structure should be the basic direction of real estate reform."
Cho emphasized, "Only when moving into public housing becomes the optimal choice for enjoying a refined and comfortable life can the vicious cycle of real estate speculation and inequality be alleviated," and stressed, "So that all citizens can enjoy a 'public premium,' the state must provide high-rise, high-quality apartments in good locations to young people and those without homes."
