Win a new-build ballot or buy a presale right while you still own a home, and you hold “one home + one presale right”. Article 89(2) of Korea’s Income Tax Act covers presale rights in the same sentence as redevelopment rights: selling the home while holding one takes away the one-household, one-home exemption (Art. 89(1)(3)). That rule, under Addendum Article 4 of Act No. 17477 (18 August 2020), applies to presale rights acquired by supply contract, purchase, gift or otherwise on or after 1 January 2021. The exceptions are in Article 156-3 of the Enforcement Decree. Paragraph 2 treats the sale as one household, one home when the right is acquired at least 1 year after the old home and the old home is sold within 3 years of acquiring the right; paragraph 3 gives the same result after 3 years if the whole household moves in within 3 years of completion and lives there at least 1 year, and the old home is sold before completion or within 3 years after. The calculator also flags the 2021 start date.
1. Presale rights acquired on or after 1 January 2021 block the exemption when you sell the home (Act Art. 89(2), Addendum Art. 4).
2. Exception one: right acquired after 1 year, old home sold within 3 years (Decree Art. 156-3(2)). A right acquired on 1 July 2025 gives 1 July 2028.
3. Exception two: even after 3 years, move the whole household in within 3 years of completion and stay at least 1 year, selling the old home before completion or within 3 years after (Decree Art. 156-3(3)).
Calculator
Calculates as you type. Dates are YYYY-MM-DD. Each period ends on the same date that many years later, as in our temporary two-home calculator (our reading). Whether the old home itself passes the 2-year holding test (Art. 154(1)) is checked separately — this tool only handles the two-home exception.
What a presale right is — Act Art. 88(10) and Addendum Art. 4
| Provision | What the text says | Points to note (our gloss) |
|---|---|---|
| Act Art. 88(10) | A “presale right” is the status of a person selected to be supplied with a home under a supply contract under the Housing Act or other laws set by presidential decree (including that status acquired by purchase, gift or otherwise). | Won in a ballot or bought — both count |
| Decree Art. 152-5 | The “laws set by decree, such as the Housing Act” in Art. 88(10) are eight: the Building Sales Act, Public Housing Special Act, Urban Development Act, Urban Redevelopment Act, Small-Scale Housing Act, Industrial Sites Act, Housing Act and Housing Site Development Act | The Building Sales Act (officetels) is on the list — but the contract must be for a “home” (checked 9 November 2026) |
| Act Art. 89(2) | Where a household holds a home and a redevelopment right or presale right and sells that home, para. 1(3) does not apply notwithstanding para. 1. | Same sentence as redevelopment rights |
| Addendum Art. 4 (Act No. 17477, 18 Aug 2020) | The amended main text of Art. 89(2) and Art. 104(7)(2) and (4) apply from presale rights acquired by supply contract, purchase, gift or otherwise on or after 1 January 2021. | Rights obtained by 31 December 2020 fall outside this sentence |
So the calculator shows “Art. 89(2) main text does not apply” for a right acquired before 1 January 2021. In that case the old home’s exemption is judged under Art. 154(1) (2-year holding and so on) without regard to the right (our reading).
Article 156-3(2) and (3) — the text
| Provision | What the text says | Points to note (our gloss) |
|---|---|---|
| Para. 2 | A one-home household that acquires a presale right before selling its old home and so temporarily holds one home and one right: if the right is acquired at least 1 year after the old home was bought and the old home is sold within 3 years of acquiring the right (including ordinance cases where it cannot be sold in 3 years), it is treated as one household, one home and Art. 154(1) applies. | Same frame as Art. 156-2(3) for redevelopment rights |
| Para. 3 | Right acquired 1 year after the old home and the old home sold after 3 years have passed, where: 1. the whole household moves into the home within 3 years of completion and lives there at least 1 year in a row; 2. the old home is sold before completion or within 3 years after. | Both items |
| Closing sentence of both | In the cases in Art. 154(1) items 1, 2(a) and 3, the requirement to acquire the right at least 1 year after the old home does not apply. | 5-year rental residence, expropriation, unavoidable-reason sales |
The ordinance cases for not selling within 3 years are the same. Article 75(1) of the Enforcement Rule names “the first part of Decree Art. 156-2(3) and Art. 156-3(2)” together: on the day 3 years after acquiring the right, a sale entrusted to KAMCO, a court auction applied for, or a public sale under the National Tax Collection Act under way, with the home sold that way. Rule Art. 75-2(1) says the unavoidable reasons for some members not moving in are a move to another city or county for the reasons in Art. 71(3) (high school or university, job change or transfer, treatment of 1 year or more, school-violence transfer).
How it differs from a redevelopment right
| Item | Presale right (Art. 156-3) | Redevelopment right (Art. 156-2) |
|---|---|---|
| Start date | Rights acquired from 1 Jan 2021 (Addendum Art. 4) | No such start-date sentence in what this page read |
| Exception paragraphs | Para. 1 lists “paras. 2 to 8” | Para. 2 lists “paras. 3 to 11” |
| Home to live in during works | No replacement-home paragraph | Para. 5 replacement home (checker) |
Four sums — our example
| Example (ours) | Result | Points to note (our gloss) |
|---|---|---|
| Old home bought 10 May 2023, right acquired 1 July 2025, sold 30 June 2028 | Inside the deadline of 1 July 2028 — para. 2 | The calculator’s opening values |
| Old home bought 1 June 2022, ballot won 10 January 2023 | 1-year rule not met — must be on or after 2 June 2023 | The win came too early |
| Old home 1 May 2020, right 20 February 2022 (3-year deadline 20 February 2025), completion 30 September 2026, sold 31 March 2027, household moves in for 1 year | Para. 3 met — sold within 3 years after completion (30 September 2029) | A way through after 3 years |
| Old home 1 February 2018, right 5 November 2020 | Acquired before 1 Jan 2021 — outside Art. 89(2) main text | The old home goes by Art. 154(1) |
Checklist
- ☐ Date the right was acquired — supply contract or purchase from a seller
- ☐ Before or after 1 January 2021?
- ☐ More than 1 year after the old home?
- ☐ The day 3 years after acquiring the right
- ☐ Past 3 years? Move the household in within 3 years of completion, for 1 year
Questions that remain
Does missing the deadline also raise the rate?
Income Tax Act Art. 104(7) adds 20 percentage points to the basic rate when a household sells a home in an adjustment area while holding one home and one presale right (item 2), and 30 points where homes plus rights total three or more (item 4). Decree Art. 167-11(1)13, however, takes out of this surcharge a home treated as the household’s only home under Art. 156-3 (this guide’s exemption) that meets all the Art. 154(1) conditions. The temporary rule sparing homes held 2 years or more (item 12) only covers sales up to 9 May 2026 (with transitional rules for land-deal permits and deposits; checked 9 November 2026). So selling within this calculator’s deadline and getting the exemption means no surcharge, while an adjustment-area home sold after the deadline without the exemption reads as surcharged (our reading — confirm the actual tax with the tax office).
Is the acquisition date the ballot date or the contract date?
Art. 88(10) only says “the status of a person selected under a supply contract”. Which day counts is not set in the provisions this page read, so the calculator uses the date you enter. Ask your tax office.
Do officetel presale rights count?
The eight laws in Decree Art. 152-5 include the Building Sales Act (checked 9 November 2026). But item 10 says a supply contract “for a home”, so whether an officetel presale right counts reads as depending on whether that officetel is treated as a home (our reading — the articles do not mention officetels). See also the officetel home-count checker.
And a redevelopment right?
The same frame is in Art. 156-2: redevelopment right two-home exemption calculator.
Sources
- Korea Law Information Center — Income Tax Act Arts. 88(10), 89(2) and Addendum Art. 4 (Act No. 17477, 18 Aug 2020) — text (current page, in force 1 Jul 2026, Act No. 21221; checked 9 November 2026). Art. 89 shows an 8 Sep 2026 amendment in force from 9 Sep 2027; the wording on the page is followed.
- Korea Law Information Center — Income Tax Act Enforcement Decree Arts. 154(1), 156-3 — text (in force 1 Oct 2026, Presidential Decree No. 36737; same day).
- Korea Law Information Center — Income Tax Act Enforcement Rule Arts. 71(3), 75, 75-2 — text (in force 1 Jul 2026, Ministry Ordinance No. 33; same day).
- Korean law database — Income Tax Act Art. 104(7) and Decree Art. 167-11(1)12–13 and Decree Art. 152-5 — Act (current text, in force 1 Jul 2026, Act No. 21221) and Decree (in force 1 Oct 2026, Decree No. 36737); checked 9 November 2026. Adjustment-area surcharge of 20/30 points, exemption-qualifying homes excluded, temporary relief to 9 May 2026; the eight laws under which a presale right counts (Building Sales Act, Public Housing Act, Urban Development Act, Urban Redevelopment Act, Small-Scale Housing Act, Industrial Sites Act, Housing Act, Housing Site Development Act).
- Not read. Details of Art. 156-3(4) to (8), rulings on the acquisition date.
- What we added. The “points to note” column, the comparison table, the date convention, the examples.
Where to check further
- National Tax Service helpline or your local tax office — acquisition date, before or after 2021.
- The supply contract and the developer — contract date, expected completion.
Written on 9 November 2026. The content follows the source texts; the glosses are ours.
