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The Effect of Strengthening Real Estate Tax Systems on Real Estate Sales Transactions

Park, Seonguk · Jung, Uno

Published: January 2009 · Vol. 38, No. 1 · pp. 269-293
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Abstract

As the low interest rate environment persisted into the 2000s, abundant market liquidity flowed into the real estate market, causing overheating and widespread speculation. In response, the Participatory Government established the Comprehensive Real Estate Tax system targeting excessive real estate holders to increase the holding tax burden, while also innovatively raising the capital gains tax rate on multi-home ownership per household, thereby significantly increasing the capital gains tax burden as well. In such a tax environment, the simplest tax-saving strategy available to excessive real estate holders was to dispose of their properties just before the implementation of each new regulation. This study empirically investigated whether the Comprehensive Real Estate Tax system and the heavy taxation of capital gains on multi-home ownership per household triggered dispositions by excessive real estate holders and increased real estate transactions. The study analyzed monthly real estate transaction registration data from August 2001 to April 2008, and the main empirical results are as follows. First, ahead of the initial implementation of the Comprehensive Real Estate Tax system, real estate transactions increased significantly only in the "Bubble 7" areas within the Seoul metropolitan region; among the six metropolitan cities, only in Busan and Ulsan; and among provinces, only in South Jeolla, North/South Gyeongsang, North/South Chungcheong, and southern Gyeonggi. Second, just before the implementation of the heavy capital gains tax on households owning three or more homes, housing transactions increased significantly across the entire Seoul metropolitan area including the Bubble 7, and among the six metropolitan cities, in Busan, Gwangju, and Daegu. Third, just before the implementation of the heavy capital gains tax on households owning two homes, housing transactions increased significantly in all areas of the Seoul metropolitan region except the three Gangnam districts (Gangnam, Seocho, and Songpa), and among the six metropolitan cities, in Incheon, Gwangju, and Ulsan. These results suggest that the large volume of real estate held by households for investment purposes was primarily located in the specific regions mentioned above. Thus, this study confirms that property disposition as a tax-saving strategy was widely utilized in a tax environment where real estate taxation had been continuously strengthened.
Keywords: 부동산 매매양도소득세종합부동산세