Why did South Korea’s National Tax Service launch audits of 50 companies over corporate-owned homes?

The NTS said the companies were suspected of using corporate-owned luxury homes for private purposes as part of tax evasion schemes. The alleged misuse included residences for owners’ families, help in dodging multiple-home ownership and lending rules, and vacation homes kept for exclusive use.

How many corporate-owned homes did the National Tax Service review, and what share showed private use?

The tax agency said it reviewed 2,639 corporate-owned homes and found that 1,097 of them, or 42 percent, were privately used by owners or their family members. The review focused on homes larger than 85 square meters and assessed at more than 900 million won.

What types of cases did the National Tax Service cite in its probe into corporate-owned luxury homes?

The agency cited a Seoul home bought for more than 20 billion won with another 10 billion won spent on expansion and interior work, a roughly 4 billion won home in southern Seoul used privately without residency registration, and a Busan company that bought a Seoul apartment for an owner’s family and let them use it rent-free.

Tax agency launches probes into 50 firms over misuse of corporate-owned homes

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Summary

Korea’s tax agency launched tax audits of 50 companies in Seoul on Tuesday over suspected misuse of corporate-owned luxury homes for private purposes. The National Tax Service said an earlier review found private use in 1,097 of 2,639 homes surveyed. The agency said the cases involved a combined 1.9 trillion won in suspected tax irregularities. It also plans to expand its probe to corporate-owned homes abroad and related overseas expenses.

Key Facts

The National Tax Service said the earlier review covered 2,639 corporate-owned homes larger than 85 square meters and officially assessed at more than 900 million won.
Among those homes, 1,097, or 42 percent, were found to have been privately used by owners or their family members.
The 50 companies under audit were suspected of tax irregularities involving a combined 1.9 trillion won.
The NTS said it will expand its investigation to corporate-owned homes abroad that were provided free of charge to owners’ children studying overseas, along with corporate payments for tuition and living expenses.

By Yonhap

Published Aug 25, 2026 12:41 pm KST

A senior official at the National Tax Service speaks during a press briefing on corporate owners and their family members who used corporate-owned luxury homes for private purposes as part of tax evasion schemes at Government Complex Sejong, Tuesday. Yonhap

Korea's tax agency said Tuesday it has launched tax audits of 50 companies on suspicions their owners and family members used corporate-owned luxury homes for private purposes as part of tax evasion schemes.

The National Tax Service (NTS) said the audits came after an earlier review found that owners and their family members had privately used 1,097, or 42 percent, of the 2,639 corporate-owned homes surveyed.

The review covered homes larger than 85 square meters and with an officially assessed value exceeding 900 million won ($651,000), making them subject to the comprehensive real estate holding tax.

The NTS said the 50 companies were suspected of tax irregularities involving a combined 1.9 trillion won.

They allegedly provided residences to owners' families, helped them dodge multiple-home ownership and lending regulations or maintained vacation homes for their exclusive use.

According to the NTS, one company purchased a luxury home in central Seoul for more than 20 billion won and spent an additional 10 billion won in corporate funds on expansion and interior work.

Another company purchased a high-end home worth around 4 billion won in a posh district of southern Seoul and allowed its owner to use it as a private house without registering his residency there.

A separate company based in the southeastern port city of Busan bought an apartment worth around 4 billion won in Seoul for its owner's family and provided it rent-free.

The NTS said it plans to expand its investigation to corporate-owned homes abroad that have been provided free of charge to owners' children studying overseas, along with corporate payments for tuition and even living expenses.

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