When a parent or spouse gives you a home in Korea you pay acquisition tax separately from gift tax. Unlike inheritance, gift acquisition tax has two tracks. Normally it is 35 per 1,000 (3.5%) under Article 11(1)2 of the Local Tax Act, but for a home in a regulated area (adjustment target area) with a standard value of ₩300 million or more, Article 13-2(2) charges 4% plus 400/100 of the base rate (8%): 12%. A home given by a one-home owner to a spouse or a lineal ascendant or descendant is excluded from the heavy rate (Decree Art. 28-6). The tax base also differs from inheritance (standard value): the rule is the market-recognised value. Enter the market-recognised value, the standard value and the area and the calculator below works out the acquisition tax, local education tax and rural special tax. Every default is our example.
1. Normally 3.5%, or 4.0% with the taxes on top — education tax (3.5% − 2%) × 20% = 0.3%, rural special tax 2% × 10% = 0.2%. A home of national housing size or smaller is exempt from the rural special tax, so 3.8% (our arithmetic).
2. Regulated area, standard value ₩300 million or more: 12%, or 13.4% in all — education tax (4% − 2%) × 20% = 0.4% (Art. 151(1)1(b)), and we read the rural special tax as (2% + 8%) × 10% = 1.0% (our reading). At national housing size or smaller it is 12.4%.
3. Our example — an apartment with a market-recognised value of ₩500 million and a standard value of ₩350 million, given in a regulated area: acquisition tax ₩60,000,000, education tax ₩2,000,000 and rural special tax ₩5,000,000, a total of ₩67,000,000. Outside a regulated area, or from a one-home parent, the same home costs ₩20,000,000.
Calculator
Results update as you type. Enter values in units of ₩10,000 and the share as a whole number from 1 to 100. The defaults (market-recognised value ₩500 million, standard value ₩350 million, apartment in a regulated area) are our example. The ₩300 million heavy-rate test uses the standard value of the whole home, not your share (Decree Art. 28-6(1)). Fractions of a won are dropped for each tax (our arithmetic). The debt part of a gift with assumed debt, heavy rates on corporate or multi-home purchases, and reliefs are not calculated.
The rate provisions — original text
| Provision | What the text says | Worth noting (our reading) |
|---|---|---|
| Local Tax Act Art. 11(1)2 | 2. Gratuitous acquisition other than item 1: 35 per 1,000. However, acquisition by a non-profit business operator prescribed by Presidential Decree is 28 per 1,000. | Gratuitous acquisition other than inheritance (item 1) — gifts sit here. Farmland is not split out |
| Art. 13-2(2) | Where a home in a regulated area worth at least a certain value prescribed by Presidential Decree is acquired by gratuitous acquisition … the rate is the rate in item 7(b) of that paragraph as the standard rate plus 400/100 of the base rate for heavy taxation. However, cases prescribed by Presidential Decree, such as a spouse or lineal ascendant or descendant acquiring for free a home owned by a one-home owner, are excluded. | 4% + 2% × 4 = 12%. The recipient’s own number of homes is not a condition |
| Decree Art. 28-6(1) | … a home whose standard value under Article 4 of the Act at acquisition (where only a share or only the attached land is acquired, the standard value of the whole home) is ₩300 million or more | Splitting the gift into shares does not change the test |
| Decree Art. 28-6(2) | 1. Where any of the following acquires by gratuitous acquisition a home from a person owning one home as a one-home household … (a) the owner’s spouse (excluding common-law spouses) (b) the owner’s lineal ascendants … (c) the owner’s lineal descendants … 2. Cases eligible for the special rate under Article 15(1)6 of the Act | Art. 15(1)6 is property division under Civil Act Arts. 834, 839-2 and 840 |
| Local Tax Act Art. 6 item 19 | “Base rate for heavy taxation” means the rate … added to or subtracted from … or the reference for the special rate …: 20 per 1,000. | 400% of it is 8% |
The tax base — original text
| Provision | What the text says | Worth noting (our reading) |
|---|---|---|
| Local Tax Act Art. 10-2(1) | Where real estate is acquired gratuitously … the value at acquisition is the value recognised as market value under Presidential Decree, such as a comparable sale price, an appraisal or a public sale price (the “market-recognised value”). | Closer to actual market prices than inheritance — details in Decree Art. 14 |
| Art. 10-2(2)2 and 3 | 2. Gratuitous acquisition (other than item 1) of real estate worth no more than an amount prescribed by Presidential Decree: whichever the taxpayer chooses of the market-recognised value and the standard value under Article 4 3. … the market-recognised value, or where it is hard to establish, the standard value under Article 4 | Only low-value property gets a choice |
| Decree Art. 14-2 | “Real estate worth no more than an amount prescribed by Presidential Decree” means real estate whose standard value (for a share, the standard value of all shares …) is ₩100 million or less. | A share is again judged on the whole |
| Art. 10-2(6) | For a gift with assumed debt in which the donor’s debt is taken over … the tax base for onerous acquisition under Article 10-3 applies to the assumed debt, and the gratuitous tax base under this Article applies to the remainder. | The calculator does not split out the debt — a gift with a lease deposit needs a separate calculation |
| Local Tax Act Art. 151(1)1 main text and (b) | … the amount calculated at the rate less 20 per 1,000 … times 20/100 … (b) cases under Article 13-2: 20/100 of the amount calculated at the rate in Article 11(1)7(b) less the base rate for heavy taxation | 0.3% normally, 0.4% at the heavy rate |
| Rural Special Tax Act Art. 5(1)6 and Art. 4(11) | Acquisition tax calculated … applying the standard rate in Articles 11 and 12 of the Local Tax Act as 2/100 — 10/100 / acquisition tax on low-income housing prescribed by Presidential Decree (exempt) | At the heavy rate, 4% becomes 2%, so 2% + 8% = 10% and 10% of that is 1.0% (our reading). Low-income housing is national housing size or smaller (Decree Art. 4(5)) At the basic rate the rural special tax is 0.2%; a home of national housing size or smaller drops that 0.2% as exempt, for 3.8% in all (our arithmetic). |
Amounts under ₩10. Acquisition tax and local education tax are local taxes, so Art. 55 of the Local Accounting Act covers fractions; the rural special tax is a national tax, covered by Art. 47 of the National Treasury Management Act (our reading). Art. 55 says a local government may disregard amounts under ₩10 in its receipts or payments, and may treat a total under ₩10 as zero (with an exception for instalments in Decree Art. 67). Art. 47(1) of the Treasury Act says fractions under ₩10 are not counted. Because the local-tax rule is permissive, the calculator drops only fractions of a won for all three taxes and does not cut to ₩10 — an actual bill may be cut to the ₩10 and differ by a few won (our explanation).
Five worked examples — ours
| Example (ours) | Result | Worth noting (our reading) |
|---|---|---|
| Apartment, market-recognised ₩500 million, standard ₩350 million (above national housing size), regulated area, no exception | Acquisition tax ₩60,000,000, education tax ₩2,000,000, rural special tax ₩5,000,000: a total of ₩67,000,000 | 13.4% of ₩500 million |
| Same home, outside a regulated area | Acquisition tax ₩17,500,000, education tax ₩1,500,000, rural special tax ₩1,000,000: a total of ₩20,000,000 | 4.0% — ₩47,000,000 less than the first example |
| Same home, regulated area, from a one-home parent to a child | A total of ₩20,000,000 | Decree Art. 28-6(2)1 — excluded from the heavy rate |
| As in the first example but national housing size or smaller | Acquisition tax ₩60,000,000 + education tax ₩2,000,000, rural special tax 0: a total of ₩62,000,000 | 12.4% |
| Villa, market-recognised ₩120 million, standard ₩90 million (national housing size or smaller), standard value chosen | Tax base ₩90,000,000: acquisition tax ₩3,150,000 + education tax ₩270,000 = a total of ₩3,420,000 | A standard value of ₩100 million or less allows the choice (Art. 14-2); under ₩300 million, so no heavy rate either |
The first two examples are the same home, yet ₩47,000,000 apart. What decides it is not the recipient but where the home is (regulated area), the whole home’s standard value and who gives it — Art. 13-2(2) does not ask whether the recipient owns a home, and the exception turns on the giver being a one-home owner (our reading).
Tax on the market-recognised value, heavy-rate test on the standard value
This is easy to mix up. The tax base is in principle the market-recognised value (Art. 10-2(1)), but the ₩300 million line for the 12% heavy rate uses the standard value (Decree Art. 28-6(1)). A home with a market-recognised value of ₩500 million but a standard value of ₩290 million is not caught, while receiving just a 10% share still counts if the whole home’s standard value is ₩300 million or more. That is why the calculator takes both values.
Checklist
- ☐ Whether the home is in a regulated area on the date of the gift (designation notice)
- ☐ The standard value of the whole home (for land and homes, the published value, Local Tax Act Art. 4)
- ☐ The market-recognised value: comparable sale price, appraisal, public sale price and so on
- ☐ Whether the giver is a one-home owner and the recipient a legal spouse or lineal relative
- ☐ Whether a lease deposit or loan is taken over (gift with assumed debt)
- ☐ Filing deadline — three months from the last day of the month of acquisition (Art. 20(1))
Questions that remain
Which areas are regulated areas now?
Regulated areas are designated and announced separately. This article does not reproduce the legal basis or the notice, so the calculator lets you choose. Art. 13-2(4) deals with sale contracts signed before the designation date but says nothing separate about gifts.
Do I pay gift tax too?
Yes, separately from acquisition tax. Gift tax is a national tax under the Inheritance and Gift Tax Act; see our gift tax deductions and gift tax calculator articles.
Whose “one home” counts?
Decree Art. 28-6(2)1 refers to the giver (the home owner) owning one home as a one-home household. Art. 13-2(5) leaves the definition of a household and how to count homes to the Presidential Decree; we did not read that provision.
What if I receive a home in a divorce?
Property division under Civil Act Arts. 834, 839-2 and 840 is eligible for the special rate in Art. 15(1)6, and so is excluded from the 12% heavy rate by Decree Art. 28-6(2)2. This calculator does not compute the special rate for property division.
Sources
- Korea Law Information Center — Local Tax Act Arts. 4, 6, 10-2, 11, 13-2, 15, 20 and 151 — original (current text, in force 1 July 2026, Act No. 21308; checked 11 November 2026). Standard value, base rate for heavy taxation, gratuitous tax base (market-recognised value, assumed debt), gratuitous rate of 3.5%, heavy rate on gifts in regulated areas, property-division special rate, filing deadline, local education tax.
- Korea Law Information Center — Enforcement Decree of the Local Tax Act Arts. 14-2 and 28-6 — original (in force 1 October 2026, Presidential Decree No. 36736; checked 11 November 2026). Standard value of ₩100 million or less; ₩300 million heavy-rate threshold and exclusions.
- Korea Law Information Center — Rural Special Tax Act Arts. 4 and 5 — original (in force 12 May 2026, Act No. 21611; checked 11 November 2026). Low-income housing exemption, item 6 of the rate table.
- Korea Law Information Center — Enforcement Decree of the Rural Special Tax Act Art. 4 — original (in force 2 January 2026, Presidential Decree No. 35947; checked 11 November 2026). Low-income housing (national housing size or smaller).
- Korean Law Information Center — Local Accounting Act Art. 55 and Decree Art. 67, National Treasury Management Act Art. 47 — Local Accounting Act (current version, in force 20 October 2026, Act No. 22084) · Decree (in force 2 June 2026, Presidential Decree No. 36369) · Treasury Act (in force 2 January 2026, Act No. 21065); checked 11 November 2026. Fractions under ₩10.
- Not read. The legal basis and notice for regulated areas, the decree rules on households and counting homes, the valuation period and comparable-property rules for the market-recognised value (Decree Art. 14 in detail, Ministry ordinance), the scope of assumed debt, Housing Act Art. 2(6) (national housing size — quoted in our rural special tax 85㎡ article), and official rulings on the rural special tax at the heavy rate.
- What we added. The calculator defaults and five examples, reading the rural special tax at the heavy rate as (2% + 8%) × 10%, dropping fractions of a won for each tax, and the “worth noting” column.
Where to check further
- The tax department of the city, county or district where the property is — whether the area is regulated, the market-recognised value, whether an exclusion applies.
- Wetax — filing and paying acquisition tax.
Written on 11 November 2026. The provisions are reproduced from the originals; the explanations and arithmetic are ours.
