If you keep your home and buy a redevelopment right (a joint membership right to a flat in a reconstruction or redevelopment project), you hold “one home + one right” for a while. Article 89(2) of Korea’s Income Tax Act says that when a household holds a home and a redevelopment right and sells the home, the one-household, one-home exemption (Art. 89(1)(3)) does not apply — except in cases set by presidential decree. Those cases are Article 156-2 of the Enforcement Decree. Paragraph 3 treats the sale as one household, one home when the right is bought at least 1 year after the old home and the old home is sold within 3 years of buying the right. Paragraph 4 gives the same result after 3 years if the whole household moves into the new flat within 3 years of completion and lives there for at least 1 year, and the old home is sold before completion or within 3 years after it. The calculator below shows which paragraph fits and the date to sell by.
1. Rule: no exemption while you hold a right (Act Art. 89(2)). Selling the home while holding a redevelopment right takes Art. 89(1)(3) away.
2. Exception one: right bought after 1 year, home sold within 3 years (Decree Art. 156-2(3)). A right bought on 20 November 2026 gives 20 November 2029.
3. Exception two: even after 3 years, if the household moves in within 3 years of completion and lives there 1 year, and the old home is sold before completion or within 3 years after (Decree Art. 156-2(4)).
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.
Article 156-2(3) and (4) — the text
| Provision | What the text says | Points to note (our gloss) |
|---|---|---|
| Act Art. 89(2) | Where a household holds a home (with its land) and a redevelopment right or presale right and sells that home, para. 1(3) does not apply notwithstanding para. 1. This does not apply where a home is bought to live in during a reconstruction or redevelopment project, or in other unavoidable cases set by presidential decree. | The rule is “no exemption”; the exceptions sit in the decree |
| Decree Art. 156-2(3) | A one-home household that buys a redevelopment right before selling its old home and so temporarily holds one home and one right: if the right is bought at least 1 year after the old home was bought and the old home is sold within 3 years of buying the right (including cases set by Ministry ordinance where it cannot be sold within 3 years), it is treated as one household, one home and Art. 154(1) applies. | The clock starts on the day the right is bought. The text has no 2-year adjusted-area rule (current page, 9 Nov 2026) |
| Decree Art. 156-2(4) | Right bought 1 year after the old home, and the old home sold after 3 years have passed, where both hold: 1. the whole household moves into the new home within 3 years of its completion and lives there for at least 1 year in a row; 2. the old home is sold before completion or within 3 years after completion. | Both items are needed; the move can come after the sale (our reading) |
Both paragraphs end by saying the 1-year rule (buying the right at least 1 year after the old home) does not apply in the cases in Art. 154(1) items 1, 2(a) and 3. Article 88(9) of the Act defines a redevelopment right as the status of a person selected as a resident through approval of a management and disposal plan (Urban Redevelopment Act Art. 74) or a project implementation plan (Small-Scale Housing Act Art. 29), limited to rights obtained as a union member (or bought from one), including the land attached.
Three cases without the 1-year rule — Art. 154(1)
| Item | What the text says (shortened) | Points to note (our gloss) |
|---|---|---|
| Item 1 | Selling a private or public construction rental home, or a public purchased rental home, where the whole household lived there 5 years or more from the lease date to the sale | Rental homes later sold to tenants |
| Item 2(a) | All or part of the home and land (bought before the project notice) taken by agreed purchase or expropriation, with the rest sold within 5 years | Public works |
| Item 3 | Selling a home lived in 1 year or more for study, work, medical care or other unavoidable reasons set by ordinance | Rule Art. 71(3): high school or university, job change or transfer, treatment of 1 year or more, school-violence transfer — moving to another city or county |
Choose “Yes” for the Art. 154(1) case and the calculator drops the 1-year rule. Emigration or going abroad for work (items 2(b), 2(c)) is not in that sentence, so the 1-year rule still applies there.
If it hasn’t sold within 3 years — Rule Art. 75
The ordinance cases in the bracket of para. 3 are in Article 75(1) of the Income Tax Enforcement Rule: on the day 3 years after buying the right, one of the following applies and the home is sold that way.
- A sale has been entrusted to KAMCO (Korea Asset Management Corporation) — with the receipt for the request (para. 2)
- A court auction has been applied for — with proof of the application
- A public sale under the National Tax Collection Act is under way
Choose “Yes” and the calculator marks a sale after 3 years as the para. 3 bracket. Whether it was actually sold that way is shown by documents (our reading).
How the calculator counts — our gloss
| Row | Count | Points to note (our gloss) |
|---|---|---|
| One-year rule | Was the right bought on or after the day after the 1-year anniversary of buying the old home? | “At least 1 year after” read as in our temporary two-home calculator |
| 3-year deadline | Old home sold by the same date 3 years after buying the right | 29 February becomes the end of February |
| Para. 4 path | After 3 years: sold by the same date 3 years after completion, plus the move-in and 1 year | Leave completion blank to read the sale as before completion; the move-in is then still pending |
| Left out | The 2-year holding test of Art. 154(1) (and 2 years’ residence if bought in an adjusted area), tax above KRW 1.2bn | Check the old home itself with the holding and residence checker |
Four sums — our example
| Example (ours) | Result | Points to note (our gloss) |
|---|---|---|
| Old home bought 10 May 2023, right bought 20 November 2026, sold 30 June 2029 | 1-year rule met (bought on or after 11 May 2024), deadline 20 November 2029 — para. 3 | The calculator’s opening values |
| Same old home, right bought 2 March 2024 | 1-year rule not met — an Art. 154(1) item 3 case would drop it and para. 3 would apply | The new place was bought too early |
| Old home 1 April 2019, right 16 August 2022 (3-year deadline 16 August 2025), sold 15 December 2026, completion 30 June 2027 | Past 3 years but sold before completion — para. 4 path, move-in and 1 year still to come | Moving in meets para. 4 |
| As above, sold 1 August 2030 | Past 3 years after completion (30 June 2030) — not met | Para. 4 item 2 |
Neighbouring rules — the rest of the article
- Para. 5 replacement home — a home bought to live in during the project: replacement home exemption checker.
- Presale rights — the same frame in Art. 156-3: presale right two-home exemption calculator.
- Paras. 6 to 10 — inherited rights, merging to care for a parent (10 years from merging), marriage (10 years from marrying) and homes under Art. 155(6)(1) are separate. This page counts paras. 3 and 4 only.
Checklist
- ☐ Date the right was bought — the plan approval or the purchase from a member
- ☐ More than 1 year after the old home?
- ☐ Mark the day 3 years after buying the right
- ☐ Likely to pass 3 years? Para. 4: move in within 3 years of completion and stay 1 year
- ☐ The old home’s own 2-year holding (and 2 years’ residence if bought in an adjusted area)
Questions that remain
What are “management and disposal plans etc.”?
Decree Art. 155 defines “small-scale reconstruction projects etc.” as small-scale reconstruction, small-scale redevelopment, street-housing improvement and self-led housing improvement projects under the Small-Scale Housing Act (para. 2), and “management and disposal plans etc.” as the management and disposal plan under Art. 74 of the Urban Redevelopment Act (for the small-scale projects, the project implementation plan under Art. 29 of the Small-Scale Housing Act) (para. 20; checked 9 November 2026).
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 redevelopment 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. 156-2 (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).
Does an adjusted area cut it to 2 years?
The 2026 change to 2 years where both homes are in adjusted areas is in Art. 155(1) (home and home). On the current page of 9 November 2026, Art. 156-2(3) says only “within 3 years”, with no adjusted-area proviso. Home-and-home deadlines are in the temporary two-home deadline calculator.
What if I sell the right instead?
Paras. 3 and 4 cover selling the old home. Selling the right itself is not covered here.
What if the home is worth over KRW 1.2bn?
Even as one household, one home, tax remains on the part above KRW 1.2bn. Work it out in the capital gains tax calculator.
Sources
- Korea Law Information Center — Income Tax Act Enforcement Decree Arts. 154(1), 156-2 — text (current page, in force 1 Oct 2026, Presidential Decree No. 36737; checked 9 November 2026). Paras. 2 to 5, and the openings of paras. 6 to 10.
- Korea Law Information Center — Income Tax Act Arts. 88(9), 89(2) — text (in force 1 Jul 2026, Act No. 21221; same day). Art. 89 carries an amendment of 8 Sep 2026 shown as in force from 9 Sep 2027; the table follows the wording on the page.
- 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 Arts. 155(2), (20) and 167-11(1)12–13 — 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. Meaning of the defined terms, adjustment-area surcharge of 20/30 points, exemption-qualifying homes excluded, temporary relief to 9 May 2026.
- Not read. Details of paras. 6 to 12, rulings and cases on when a right counts as bought.
- What we added. The “points to note” column, the date convention, the examples.
Where to check further
- National Tax Service helpline or your local tax office — when the right counts as bought, whether an Art. 154(1) exception applies.
- The project union — plan approval date and expected completion.
Written on 9 November 2026. The content follows the source texts; the glosses are ours.
