Ruling party, gov't agree to broadly recognize unavoidable reasons for non-residency

The ruling party and the government have agreed to broadly recognize unavoidable reasons for non-residency and plan to discuss the matter further.

Since Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok took office, the party and the government held their 10th senior party-government consultative council meeting Sunday morning at the prime minister's official residence in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

In his opening remarks, Kim said, "For single-home owners who do not reside in their property, I believe the various unavoidable real-life reasons for non-residency should be broadly recognized, and blind spots should be eliminated."

He added that Sunday's agenda included the 2026 tax reform plan, a Greater Seoul housing supply plan and key legislation, describing the real estate tax reform and housing supply measures as matters of great public interest. "In principle, we agree with the government and the president's direction on expanding real estate supply and reforming the tax system, and on that basis I would like to offer a few supplementary suggestions," he said, emphasizing the need for complementary measures for non-resident single-home owners.

The government's previously announced real estate tax reform plan shifts the system toward "actual residency," increasing the tax burden on non-resident single-home owners. It would lower the basic deduction for the comprehensive real estate tax for non-residents from 1.2 billion won ($861,000) to 900 million won, and abolish the long-term holding special deduction for capital gains tax.

Regarding this, Kim said, "In the case of the comprehensive real estate tax, even under the current system, non-residents already face a natural increase in their tax burden as publicly assessed land prices rise." He said the proposed reform — adjusting the basic deduction from 1.2 billion won to 900 million won and raising the tax burden cap to 200 percent — "requires deep and careful deliberation."

At the meeting, the ruling party strongly urged the government not to distinguish between resident and non-resident single-home owners for the purposes of the comprehensive real estate tax.