Korea’s one-home capital gains exemption covers not just the house but the land attached to it — up to a limit. Income Tax Act Article 89(1)(iii) limits that land to “land within the area found by multiplying the area on which the building stands by a multiple set by Presidential Decree for each region” (attached land). Decree Article 154(7) sets the multiples: 3 times inside urban areas of the Seoul metropolitan region in residential, commercial and industrial zones, 5 times in that region’s green zones and in urban areas outside it, and 10 times outside urban areas. The calculator shows how much of a plot can count.
1. Exempt land runs up to the building footprint × the multiple (attached land).
2. 3 times in residential, commercial and industrial zones of urban areas in the Seoul metropolitan region; 5 times in its green zones and in urban areas elsewhere; 10 times outside urban areas.
3. For land taken for public works, use the zone on the day before the project approval notice (if acquired before the notice).
Calculator
Updates as you type. Limit = area on which the building stands × the zone multiple. Area only — how land over the limit is taxed, and the 1.2 billion won high-value rule, are separate.
The two provisions
| Type | What the source says | Worth noting (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| Act Art. 89(1)(iii) | Gains from a qualifying home (excluding a high-value home whose sale price with its land exceeds 1.2 billion won) and its land within the building footprint times the regional multiple are not taxed | Only land within the multiple is “attached land” |
| Decree Art. 154(7)(i)(a) | Inside an urban area, land in residential, commercial or industrial zones of the Seoul metropolitan region: 3 times | Most housing land in Seoul (our gloss) |
| (i)(b) | Green zones in the metropolitan region: 5 times | — |
| (i)(c) | Urban land outside the metropolitan region: 5 times | Other cities |
| (ii) | Other land: 10 times | Outside urban areas (our gloss) |
| Latter part | Zones are those under the National Land Planning Act Art. 36; where the land is bought or expropriated for public works (and was acquired before the approval notice), the zone on the day before the notice applies | Amended 28 November 2025 |
The basis is the area on which the building stands, not floor area: a two-storey house uses its ground footprint (our reading). The zone is shown on the land use plan certificate (our gloss).
Four cases — our example
| Case (ours) | Limit → over | Worth noting (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| Seoul residential zone, footprint 100 m², plot 330 m² | 100 × 3 = 300 m² → 30 m² over | 9.09% of the plot falls outside |
| City outside the region, footprint 120 m², plot 500 m² | 120 × 5 = 600 m² → none over | All within |
| Metropolitan green zone, footprint 90 m², plot 500 m² | 90 × 5 = 450 m² → 50 m² over | Green zones get 5 times |
| Rural house, footprint 80 m², plot 1,000 m² | 80 × 10 = 800 m² → 200 m² over | 20.00% of the plot |
How the gain on land over the limit is taxed (how the price is split, whether it counts as non-business land) is not in the two provisions we read; ask the tax office.
The 1.2 billion won rule is separate
The bracket in Art. 89(1)(iii) excludes high-value homes whose sale price with the land exceeds 1.2 billion won. The area multiple and the price test are separate yardsticks. See capital gains apportionment above 1.2 billion won.
Checklist
- ☐ Zone from the land use plan certificate
- ☐ Building footprint from the building register
- ☐ Compare with the whole plot
- ☐ For expropriated land, compare the approval notice date with your purchase date
- ☐ Check the 1.2 billion won price test separately
Questions that remain
What if the garden is split off and sold later?
The provisions set the limit for land sold with the house; they say nothing about separate sales. We did not read case law.
Mixed-use buildings?
Not read this time; see the one-home exemption.
Sources
- Korean law database (law.go.kr) — Income Tax Act Art. 89 — source (current text, effective 1 July 2026, Act No. 21221; checked 3 November 2026). Para. 1(iii): high-value homes above 1.2 billion won excluded; land within the building footprint times the regional multiple.
- Korean law database — Income Tax Decree Art. 154(7) — source (current text, effective 1 October 2026, Decree No. 36737; checked 3 November 2026). Multiples 3, 5, 5 and 10; zones; zone at the day before the approval notice (amended 28 November 2025).
- Not read. National Land Planning Act Arts. 6 and 36, the Seoul Metropolitan Area Readjustment Planning Act Art. 2, Decree Art. 160 and the mixed-use rules, taxation of land over the limit, case law.
- What we added. The “worth noting” column and the Korean everyday gloss.
Where to check further
- Land use plan viewer — the zone.
- Your tax office — land over the limit.
Written on 3 November 2026. The content is from the source; the glosses are ours.
