When the July property tax bill arrives in Korea, the first thought is “why this amount?” — and the bill itself shows almost none of the arithmetic. Open the statute and you find that most of the numbers producing that figure are not in the Act at all but in the Decree, and that Decree changes almost every year.
1. Who pays, and how much. The assessment date is 1 June, and the provision is that one sentence (Art. 114) — no holding period, no actual residence. Whoever owns it on 1 June pays the whole year. Sold on 31 May: the buyer pays. Bought on 2 June: the seller pays.
2. Why does the amount move every year. The tax base is standard market value × fair market value ratio, but the Act sets only a 40–80% band and the ratio itself lives in the Decree (Art. 110(1)) — and that Decree changes almost every year. The tax burden cap for housing was deleted in 2023 (Art. 122).
3. When is it due. Only housing is split in half, across July and September. And the one-home rate concession applies only to liabilities arising up to 28 December 2026 — this may be its last year.
Who pays — 1 June decides it
Article 114 (Assessment Date) The assessment date for property tax shall be 1 June each year.
That single sentence is the entire provision. Holding period and actual residence appear nowhere in it. Whoever owns the property on 1 June bears the full year’s tax.
- Sold on 31 May → that year’s tax falls on the buyer.
- Bought on 2 June → that year’s tax falls on the seller.
- Which is why a closing date in late May or early June is negotiable. The purchase process is covered in our apartment purchase guide.
How is the amount built
Article 110(1) The tax base for property tax on land, buildings and housing shall be the value obtained by multiplying the standard market value … by the fair market value ratio prescribed by Presidential Decree within the range specified in the following subparagraphs, taking into account real estate market trends and local fiscal conditions:
1. Land and buildings: 50 to 90 percent of the standard market value
2. Housing: 40 to 80 percent of the standard market value. Provided, that for a single home under Article 111-2, 30 to 70 percent
| Category | Band set by the Act | Actual 2026 ratio (Decree) |
|---|---|---|
| Land and buildings | 50 – 90% | 70% |
| Housing (general) | 40 – 80% | 60% |
| Single home — value up to KRW 300m | 30 – 70% | 43% |
| Single home — KRW 300m to 600m | 44% | |
| Single home — over KRW 600m | 45% |
Article 109(1) of the Decree carries six lines of amendment history — 30 Jun 2022, 14 Mar 2023, 30 Jun 2023, 28 May 2024, 27 May 2025, 29 May 2026. It changes almost every year, and without passing through the legislature.
The single-home brackets are also written as applying “where the tax base is computed for property tax liability arising in 2026” — the year is fixed in the text. Next year’s bill may not use these figures.
And that bracket carries a parenthesis: “including housing whose standard market value exceeds KRW 900m.” That is a different threshold from the rate concession below, which is capped at KRW 900m. Many explanations bundle the two together; in the statute they are separate.
We have now read the formula in Article 110(3) — it is an image inside the provision and does not come out as text, but its alt text carries it in full.
Tax base ceiling = "the preceding year's equivalent tax base for that home, as prescribed by Presidential Decree" + (the tax base computed from the standard market value on the assessment date × the ceiling rate)
Ceiling rate = a rate set by Presidential Decree within a range of 0 to 5 per cent, having regard to consumer prices, house price movements and local finances
Two things are left to the Decree, and both sit in Decree article 109-2 (added 28 May 2024).
| Left to the Decree | What the Decree sets |
|---|---|
| The preceding year's equivalent tax base | Last year's standard market value × the fair market value ratio in force on this year's assessment date |
| The ceiling rate | 5 per cent |
| Local Tax Act Enforcement Decree art. 109-2(1) and (2). The statutory range is 0 to 5%, and the Decree currently sits at the top of it. | |
This is not "105% of last year's bill". The ceiling binds the tax base, not the tax, and the "preceding year's equivalent" is not last year's base but last year's standard market value multiplied by this year's ratio.
So when the fair market value ratio falls, the ceiling falls with it — both terms use this year's ratio. Remembering the cap as "so many per cent above last year" goes wrong here.
Is there a cap when it jumps
Explanations citing “105%, 110% or 130% of last year” are still circulating. Open the provision and those subparagraphs have been deleted outright.
Article 122 (Cap on Tax Burden) Where the computed property tax on the asset … exceeds 150 percent of the equivalent property tax on that asset for the immediately preceding year … the amount equal to 150 percent shall be the amount collected for that year. Provided, that this shall not apply to housing.
1. Deleted <14 Mar 2023> 2. Deleted <14 Mar 2023> 3. Deleted <14 Mar 2023>
The deleted subparagraphs 1, 2 and 3 were precisely the housing caps by published price band. The current Article 122 states in its proviso that it does not apply to housing. “My bill can only rise to 105% of last year” has no basis in the current text.
In its place, the tax base ceiling in Article 110(3) was inserted on the same date (14 Mar 2023) — the mechanism appears to have moved from capping the tax to capping the base.
That formula is an image inside the provision and does not come out as text, but its alt text carries it in full — it is set out above.
Land and buildings are still subject to the 150% cap.
Here is what disappeared and what appeared on a single day, 14 March 2023.
Will the one-home concession still exist
Article 111-2(1) … For a single home prescribed by Presidential Decree (limited to housing whose standard market value is KRW 900m or less), the following rates shall apply.
(3) … Where the tax computed using a rate adjusted by municipal ordinance is lower than the tax computed under paragraph (1), paragraph (1) shall not apply.
(4) … Where the same housing falls under both paragraph (1) and a property tax reduction under the Restriction of Special Local Taxation Act, they shall not be applied together; only the one with the greater reduction shall apply.
[The amended provisions of Article 111-2 … shall be valid only for tax liability arising up to 28 December 2026]
- That final bracket is the most important sentence in this article — “valid only for tax liability arising up to 28 December 2026.” Unless extended, the concession disappears from the 2027 bill. Whether it will be extended is unknown, and we do not assert it.
- Paragraph (3) can reverse it — if a municipal ordinance rate is more favourable, the concession does not apply. “The concession is always better” is not what the text says.
- Paragraph (4) — no stacking with other statutory reductions; only the larger one applies.
- Paragraph (2) — housing held in trust is added to the truster’s house count, closing off the use of trusts to reduce it.
- Both rate tables are images inside the provision — they do not come out as text, but their alt text carries them in full. They are set out below.
| Two concessions for a single home | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Fair market value ratio (43–45%) Decree art. 109(1)2, proviso | includes homes over KRW 900m |
| Rate concession Act art. 111-2(1) | limited to KRW 900m or less |
Same phrase, different thresholds. Above KRW 900m there is a band where the 45% ratio still applies but the rate concession does not. Sources routinely treat the two as one; the statute keeps them apart.
Housing rates — standard and single-home
The standard rates in Article 111(1)3(b) and the single-home rates in Article 111-2(1). Both tables are images inside the provision; we read them from the alt text.
| Tax base | Standard rate art. 111(1)3(b) |
|---|---|
| up to KRW 60m | 0.1% |
| KRW 60m – 150m | KRW 60,000 + 0.15% of the excess |
| KRW 150m – 300m | KRW 195,000 + 0.25% of the excess |
| over KRW 300m | KRW 570,000 + 0.4% of the excess |
| Tax base | Single-home rate art. 111-2(1) |
|---|---|
| up to KRW 60m | 0.05% |
| KRW 60m – 150m | KRW 30,000 + 0.1% of the excess |
| KRW 150m – 300m | KRW 120,000 + 0.2% of the excess |
| over KRW 300m | KRW 420,000 + 0.35% of the excess |
| Limited to homes with a standard market value of KRW 900m or less. The “tax base” is the standard market value after the fair market value ratio, not before. | |
Set the two side by side and one rule appears — the single-home rate is exactly 0.05 percentage points below the standard rate in all four bands. It is not a percentage discount; it is the same drop applied to every band.
So the saving grows in proportion to the base: KRW 30,000 at a base of KRW 60m, KRW 150,000 at KRW 300m, KRW 200,000 at KRW 400m — in each case 0.05% of the base.
This concession has an end date. A note below the provision limits it to tax liabilities arising on or before 28 December 2026. Whether it is extended has to be checked then.
Put the two concessions on one axis and you can see where the thresholds part.
When is it due
| Asset | Payment period | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Land | 16–30 September | September only |
| Buildings | 16–31 July | July only |
| Housing | 16–31 July (½) | If the tax is KRW 200,000 or less, an ordinance may levy it all in July |
| 16–30 September (½) | ||
| Ships and aircraft | 16–31 July | — |
“No bill came in September” can be perfectly normal — the proviso to Article 115(1) allows an ordinance to levy the whole amount in July where the tax is KRW 200,000 or less. The full calendar is in our Korean tax calendar.
Questions that keep splitting opinion
How is this different from the comprehensive real estate tax?
Different statutes. Property tax comes from the Local Tax Act and is paid in July and September; the comprehensive real estate tax comes from its own Act and is paid 1–15 December (Art. 16(1)). Covered separately in our comprehensive real estate tax guide.
Do I pay it on a property I rent out?
Property tax is levied on the owner as of 1 June (Art. 114 plus the taxpayer provisions). A tenant living there does not change that. The rental income side is in our rental income tax guide.
Is “standard market value” the same as the published price?
The term the statute uses is “standard market value” (Art. 110(1), Art. 4). “Published price” is not statutory language. We did not open Article 4, which defines the relationship, so we do not assert that they are the same.
What is the penalty for paying late?
Additional charges and late-payment penalties sit in the Framework Act on Local Taxes, not Article 115, and we did not open it this time. We could not verify the widely quoted “3%” against the text, so this article states no figure.
Can I pay in instalments?
The instalment provision was outside this article’s scope. The commonly cited “over KRW 2.5m may be split” is not verified against the text and is therefore not stated here. Check with your local district office.
Most of the numbers that build a Korean property tax bill are not in the Act but in the Decree. And that Decree has changed six times in the last five years.
Sources
- Ministry of Government Legislation, National Law Information Center — statutory text — Local Tax Act, Article 110 (Tax Base). Source of “the ratio prescribed by Presidential Decree within the range specified,” the bands (50–90%, 40–80%, 30–70%), and paragraph (3) on the tax base ceiling.
- Ministry of Government Legislation, National Law Information Center — statutory text — Same Act, Enforcement Decree Article 109 (Fair Market Value Ratio). Source of the actual 2026 ratios (70%, 60%, 43/44/45%), the six amendment dates, and the “liability arising in 2026” limitation.
- Ministry of Government Legislation, National Law Information Center — statutory text — Same Act, Article 122 (Cap on Tax Burden). Source of the 150% figure, the proviso excluding housing, and the fact that subparagraphs 1 to 3 are all marked “Deleted <14 Mar 2023>.”
- Ministry of Government Legislation, National Law Information Center — statutory text — Same Act, Article 111-2 (Rate Concession for a Single Home). Source of “limited to housing whose standard market value is KRW 900m or less,” paragraphs (2) to (4), and the “valid only for tax liability arising up to 28 December 2026” note.
- Ministry of Government Legislation, National Law Information Center — statutory text — Same Act, Article 115 (Payment Periods). Source of land in September, buildings in July, housing split in half and the KRW 200,000 ordinance exception. The 1 June assessment date is Article 114.
Where to check further
- The fair market value ratio actually in force this year. The Act sets only a band, and the Decree changes almost annually — read Article 109 of the Local Tax Act Enforcement Decree on the National Law Information Center for the figure at your assessment date.
- The standard market value of your own property. The provisions give the formula, not the number — Korea's official property price portal publishes apartment and detached-house valuations.
- The other levies that arrive on the same bill. The total is not property tax alone — Wetax and your city or district tax office break the bill down by item.
Written as of August 2026. All quotations are the statutory text as published by the National Law Information Center, and what we could not confirm is listed separately above. Municipalities may adjust rates by ordinance (Arts. 111(3) and 111-2(3)), so outcomes differ by district. If the amount on your bill does not add up, ask your local district tax office. This article is general information, not tax advice.
