If you buy the next home before selling the current one in Korea, you briefly own two homes. When must the old one be sold to keep the one-home capital gains tax exemption? Article 155(1) of the Income Tax Act Enforcement Decree says the old home is treated as a one-household-one-home sale if the new home is bought at least 1 year after the old one was bought and the old home is sold within a set period from buying the new one. An amendment effective 1 October 2026 (Decree No. 36737) split that period in two: 2 years if both homes are in adjusted areas, otherwise 3 years. The calculator below works out the date.
1. Buy the new home at least 1 year after the old one — the condition people miss.
2. Sell the old home within 3 years of buying the new one, or 2 years if both are in adjusted areas.
3. The 2-year rule applies to new homes bought on or after 4 August 2026 — those bought, or contracted with a deposit paid, by 3 August keep the former rule.
Calculator
Updates as you type. Periods count from the day after acquisition and end on the same date N years later (our reading of Civil Act Arts. 157 and 160); a weekend or holiday last day is not moved. Whether the old home itself meets the one-home rules (2 years’ holding etc.) is not checked here.
Article 155(1) — the text
| Type | What the source says | Worth noting (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| Main text | A one-home household that buys a new home before selling the old one, and so temporarily owns two, is treated as owning one home under Art. 154(1) if the new home is bought at least 1 year after the old one and the old one is sold within the period in each item (including the para. 18 cases) | Building your own home counts as buying |
| Item 1 | Where, on the new home date, the old home is in an adjusted area and the new home is too: 2 years. Not if the new home (or the right to it) was bought, or a contract signed and deposit paid, before the area was designated | A pre-designation contract stays at 3 years |
| Item 2 | Any other case: 3 years | Only one home in an adjusted area means 3 years (our reading) |
| Second sentence | The 1-year rule does not apply in the cases in Art. 154(1) item 1, item 2(a) or item 3. Land and buildings left after a partial expropriation, sold within 5 years, count as part of the old home’s sale | We did not set out those three items |
The old-and-new comparison screen shows that before this amendment (Decree No. 36343, 22 May 2026) paragraph 1 had one period only: “within 3 years from buying the new home”. The amendment shortens only the move between two adjusted-area homes.
Which purchases get 2 years — Addendum Art. 2
| Type | What the source says | Worth noting (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| Applies (1) | A household with its old home in an adjusted area that buys an adjusted-area new home on or after 4 August 2026 and sells the old home after 1 October 2026 | Both conditions together |
| Former rule (2) item 1 | The new home (or right to it) was bought by 3 August 2026 | 3 years |
| Former rule (2) item 2 | A contract was signed and a deposit paid by 3 August 2026, shown by documents | Still 3 years if completion is later |
When 3 years becomes 5 — para. 16
Paragraph 16 says that, for a household owning one home in the capital region, where a company or public body in the capital region moves outside it and a household of its officers, staff or employees buys another home in the city or county it moved to, or a neighbouring one, the “3 years” in paragraph 1 is read as “5 years”, and the 1-year rule does not apply. That is the “para. 16” option in the calculator.
If it hasn’t sold in time — para. 18
The main text includes the cases in paragraph 18: on the date 3 years after buying the other home, the sale has been entrusted to the Korea Asset Management Corporation, a court auction has been applied for, a public sale under the National Tax Collection Act is under way, or a redevelopment cash-settlement suit, expropriation ruling or sale claim is pending (or ended without payment). Whether that “3 years” wording also fits the 2-year item 1 isn’t clear from the text; ask the tax office (our reading).
Four sums — our example
| Case (our example) | Sell the old home by | Worth noting (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| Old home bought 20 May 2023, new home 28 October 2026, not both in adjusted areas | 28 October 2029 (3 years) | Calculator default |
| Both in adjusted areas, new home 15 September 2026, contract after 4 August | 15 September 2028 (2 years) | Item 1 |
| Same, but deposit paid on 20 July 2026 | 15 September 2029 (3 years) | Addendum Art. 2(2) item 2 |
| Old home bought 1 February 2026, new home 28 October 2026 | No relief | 1-year rule: new home needed on or after 2 February 2027 |
The dates are our example. We read “within N years from buying” as counting from the next day and ending on the same date N years on, and “after at least 1 year” as from the day after that year ends (our reading of Civil Act Arts. 157 and 160). If your date sits on the line, check with the tax office.
Checklist
- ☐ Note both purchase dates (ask the tax office whether completion or registration counts)
- ☐ Was the new home bought more than 1 year after the old one?
- ☐ On the new home date, were both homes in adjusted areas?
- ☐ Was the deposit on the new home paid by 3 August 2026? Keep the proof
- ☐ Does the old home meet the one-home rules (2 years’ holding etc.) and the KRW 1.2bn line?
Questions that remain
If I meet the deadline, is the old home always exempt?
No. Paragraph 1 only treats it as one home “and applies Art. 154(1)”, so the holding rules there still apply. They are set out in one-home capital gains tax exemption.
What if the price is over KRW 1.2bn?
Income Tax Act Art. 89(1)(3) leaves out high-value homes whose combined actual price exceeds KRW 1.2bn. Tax on the excess can be estimated in the capital gains tax calculator.
Sources
- Korean law database (law.go.kr) — Income Tax Act Enforcement Decree Art. 155(1), (16), (18) and Addendum Art. 2 — source (current text, effective 1 October 2026, Presidential Decree No. 36737; checked 28 October 2026). Main text (1-year rule, the item periods, para. 18), item 1 two years (adjusted areas, pre-designation excluded), item 2 three years, the 1-year exceptions and 5-year expropriation rule, para. 16 five years, para. 18 cases, Addendum Art. 2. The old-and-new comparison (Decree No. 36343 to No. 36737) shows the former single “3 years”.
- Korean law database — Income Tax Act Art. 89(1)(3) — source (current text, effective 1 July 2026, Act No. 21221; checked 28 October 2026). High-value homes over KRW 1.2bn excluded; item (b), two or more homes through replacement, inheritance, caring for parents or marriage.
- Not read. The items of Art. 154(1); adjusted-area notices; rulings on which date counts as acquisition.
- What we added. The “worth noting” column and the Korean everyday gloss.
Where to check further
- Your tax office or the National Tax Service — which date counts, and whether para. 18 applies to the 2-year item.
- Adjusted-area status — check the Ministry of Land notice as at the new home date (we did not read the notices this time).
Written on 28 October 2026. The content is from the source; the glosses are ours.
