A reported proposal in Korea would make it easier, on paper, to qualify for deferring a housing-related tax bill — by lifting the salary ceiling that gates eligibility. But the deferral it would widen is one almost no one uses, and the reasons for that low take-up sit mostly outside the ceiling being discussed. Understanding what the current rules already require, and what is merely reported rather than enacted, matters as much as the headline change itself.
What the current deferral actually offers
Under current law, as set out in the Comprehensive Real Estate Holding Tax Act, a one-home household may defer the tax when the taxpayer is over 60 or has held the home for more than five years — but only subject to the statute’s income, tax-amount and security conditions. Age or holding period opens the door; it does not, by itself, complete eligibility.
The income test is specific. The current statutory ceilings are KRW70 million of salary income and KRW60 million of global income, and salary alone does not establish eligibility. A taxpayer has to clear the relevant income limit and satisfy the other statutory conditions, not simply fall under one number.
It also matters what deferral is. It postpones payment; it does not cancel or reduce the tax owed. The current law provides for later collection, and for an additional interest-equivalent amount when permission is revoked. In other words, the benefit is timing relief, not forgiveness — a distinction that shapes how attractive the option really is.
A reported change — and why it may not move the needle
Against that backdrop, Seoul Economic Daily reports that the Ministry of Economy and Finance reportedly plans to propose raising the salary-income ceiling from KRW70 million to KRW80 million, as part of a tax-code revision expected later in July. That higher threshold is not enacted, not effective and not currently available: it is a reported policy signal, and no effective date should be read into it without official enacted text.
The take-up numbers explain why the proposal is modest in effect. Per Seoul Economic Daily, the deferral drew 148 users during 2022–2025 — roughly 0.2% to 0.3% take-up. That is very limited use of an existing relief, and it frames the reported change as an adjustment at the margin rather than a broad opening.
Crucially, a higher salary ceiling would not remove the other gates. The age or holding-period requirement, the tax-amount condition, the security requirement and the remaining statutory conditions would all still apply, and the deferral would still be postponement rather than reduction. So even if the reported KRW80 million threshold were enacted, the structural reasons for low take-up would largely remain — a point to weigh cautiously, without inferring policymakers’ motives or assuming the change would make the relief broadly available. None of this is personal tax, legal, property or investment advice; it is a reading of current rules against a reported, not-yet-enacted proposal.
References
Korea Legislation Research Institute — Comprehensive Real Estate Holding Tax Act, Article 20-2 / Seoul Economic Daily — Korea Eases Property Tax Deferral Rules, but Beneficiaries May Remain Few (21 July 2026).
