A table saying “1 to 3%” suggests that everything between KRW 600m and 900m sits somewhere in there. It does — on average. But measure what another KRW 10m of price costs in tax and a different number appears. On an 890m home it is 894,000 won.
In this band the rate is not tabled but computed. Rate = (price × 2 ÷ 300m − 3) × 1/100 (Local Tax Act art. 11(1)8(b)).
The formula means the price does not merely get multiplied by a rate — the price makes the rate. So the tax grows like a square, not a line.
The marginal rate runs 5.1% at 600m to 8.9% at 890m. Then, past 900m, it drops to 3.0%.
KRW 10m is worth different amounts at different points
| Negotiating range | Extra acquisition tax | Marginal rate |
|---|---|---|
| 600m → 610m | 506,870 won | 5.1% |
| 700m → 710m | 639,530 won | 6.4% |
| 800m → 810m | 773,600 won | 7.7% |
| 890m → 900m | 893,630 won | 8.9% |
| 900m → 910m | 300,000 won | 3.0% |
The last two rows are the point of this article. KRW 10m just below 900m and KRW 10m just above it differ by nearly three times. Negotiating the price down is worth considerably more at 890m.
Why — the price makes the rate
Most taxes are price times rate. Here the rate is itself a function of price, so the tax grows as a curve rather than a line.
| Price | Rate | Acquisition tax | Average rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| KRW 600m | 1.0000% | 6,000,000 | 1.00% |
| KRW 650m | 1.3333% | 8,666,450 | 1.33% |
| KRW 700m | 1.6667% | 11,666,900 | 1.67% |
| KRW 750m | 2.0000% | 15,000,000 | 2.00% |
| KRW 800m | 2.3333% | 18,666,400 | 2.33% |
| KRW 900m | 3.0000% | 27,000,000 | 3.00% |
The average rate triples from 1% to 3%, while the marginal rate passes 5.1% to 8.9% — already above that range throughout. Where the average is 3%, the margin is 8.9%. “1 to 3%” is not wrong, but it is not the number to take to a negotiation.
The ends meet exactly. Feed in 600m and the formula returns 1.0000%, matching the 1% below it; feed in 900m and it returns 3.0000%, matching the 3% above. The band is designed to join, so nothing jumps at 601m.
Sources split on the rounding
The statute adds “rounded at the fifth decimal place to four decimal places,” and where those four places sit differs between sources.
| Price | Read as 1.6667% | Read as 1.67% | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| KRW 650m | 8,666,450 | 8,645,000 | 21,450 |
| KRW 700m | 11,666,900 | 11,690,000 | 23,100 |
| KRW 800m | 18,666,400 | 18,640,000 | 26,400 |
| KRW 850m | 22,666,950 | 22,695,000 | 28,050 |
The widest gap found was 29,667 won, near KRW 899m — 0.0033% of the price. Small as a proportion, but it moves the ten-thousands digit.
We used the percentage reading (1.6667%), matching the notation this site’s acquisition tax guide already uses when quoting the statute. We could not open the statute to settle which reading is correct — the national law portal blocks automated retrieval, and local authority pages write it more loosely still (“1.01–2.99%”). Confirm the actual assessment on Wetax.
Buying a share works differently
The rate is set by the value of the whole home, not by what you paid. The statute carries its own conversion.
Whole-home value = value of the share acquired × (assessed value of the whole ÷ assessed value of the share)
So buying half of an 800m home for 400m does not land you in the sub-600m band at 1%. The conversion gives 800m, the rate is 2.3333%, and that rate applies to the 400m you paid. Half a home, a whole home’s rate.
Questions that remain
Is it a loss to go just over 900m?
No — the opposite. There is no notch here: the tax does not jump at 900m, the slope merely flattens. It is 27m won at 900m and 27.3m at 910m. Nowhere in acquisition tax does crossing a price line suddenly cost you. The place that does bite is the heavy rates, and those are driven by the number of homes, not the price.
So is 890m to 900m the most expensive stretch?
By marginal rate, yes — 8.9% is the peak of the band. But it is not where the tax is largest. Past 900m the tax keeps rising at 3%. “Where the same KRW 10m costs most” and “where the tax is highest” are different questions.
Is the published “1.01–2.99%” wrong?
Worked from the statute, the ends are exactly 1.0000% and 3.0000%. “1.01–2.99%” looks like an attempt to avoid overlapping the neighbouring bands, but writing it that way hides the fact that the band is designed to join — it reads as though 600m is 1% and 600m-plus-one-won is 1.01%. It is continuous.
Does anything else change across this band?
The local education tax tracks it. At (rate × 50%) × 20% it is a tenth of the acquisition rate — 0.1667% against 1.6667%. The rural development surtax, by contrast, stays at 0.2% throughout this band; it splits only on floor area. That structure is set out in the rural surtax and the 85㎡ line.
What if the contract price is understated?
Recording a price other than the actual one is prohibited under the Act on Report of Real Estate Transactions, and it throws out not only acquisition tax but the later capital gains tax as well. A high marginal rate means “calculate precisely and negotiate” and nothing else. The penalties involved we could not verify.
Sources and where to check
Local Tax Act art. 11(1)8 — paragraph (a) 10/1,000 up to 600m, (b) the formula for 600m–900m, (c) 30/1,000 above 900m. The same paragraph carries the conversion for buying a share.
Local Tax Act art. 151 — local education tax.
Every figure here was rebuilt from the formula. The six rows quoted in this site’s acquisition tax guide (600m at 1.0000% and 6m won, through 900m at 3.0000% and 27m) were reproduced to the won before the marginal rates were derived. The statute itself could not be opened — the national law portal blocks automated retrieval.
Where to check further
The Wetax acquisition tax calculator. Given the rounding disagreement, that is the reference for the actual bill.
For a share purchase, the assessed values. The conversion needs two — the whole and your share.
The number of homes first. The marginal rates here describe the one-home standard rate. Fall into a heavy rate and it flattens to 8% or 12% and this curve disappears.
To total all three taxes, put the price into the acquisition tax calculator.
