Tax agency urges 48,000 people to file for real estate tax breaks by Sept. 30

The National Tax Service said Thursday it sent notices to 48,000 taxpayers expected to qualify for exclusion from aggregate taxation or special tax treatment under the comprehensive real estate tax.

Taxpayers who receive the notice can file between Sept. 16 and Sept. 30. Doing so lets them receive tax exemptions or be assessed as single-house owners when regular tax bills are issued in November.

Rental housing, employee housing and land designated for new housing construction that meet certain requirements can be excluded from the comprehensive real estate tax entirely if owners file for exclusion from aggregate taxation.

Owners of temporary two-house holdings, inherited houses, low-priced houses in provincial areas, and houses jointly owned by married couples can apply for the special treatment. Doing so allows their tax to be calculated as if they were single-house owners.

Starting this year, married couples applying for the single-house special treatment as joint owners can designate either spouse as the taxpayer by mutual agreement, regardless of each partner's ownership share.

Small newly built houses, completed-but-unsold houses in provincial areas, and houses in designated population-decline attention regions can be excluded from house-count calculations when tax rates are applied. This applies if owners apply for the relevant special treatment. This means owners of three or more houses may avoid the higher tax rate that would otherwise apply.

The National Tax Service said taxpayers can file conveniently through Hometax, its online tax portal, using tools such as pre-filled forms, an aggregation-exclusion eligibility check, and a tax simulation calculator.

The agency added that the special treatment for jointly owned houses by married couples could in some cases prove disadvantageous, and urged taxpayers to run the simulation calculator before filing.

Those who have already filed do not need to file again. However, anyone who no longer meets the requirements — for instance, because their rental housing registration was canceled — must file.

"If it is confirmed after receiving the special treatment that the requirements were not met, taxpayers will have to pay back the reduced tax amount along with an interest-equivalent surcharge, so they should file honestly and in good faith," the National Tax Service said.