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| A real estate agent's office displays signs for tax consultation, Jan. 15. Yonhap |
Korea's finance ministry said Wednesday it plans to revamp a set of tax regulations on the property market to ease the financial burden of people amid soaring borrowing costs.
Under the plan, Korea will allow owners of two homes to pay less taxes if they dispose of one of them during an extended period amid a slump in the home market, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Such homeowners will not be subject to heavier taxation if they offload one of the two homes within three years. The ministry earlier extended the period from one to two years in May 2022.
The government plans to extend the deadline for multiple home owners to avoid a heavier transfer income tax when they sell their properties in the speculative districts by one year until May 2024 as well.
The country also vowed to offer tax credits on monthly rents for homes valued at 400 million won ($322,000) and below, up from the current ceiling of 300 million won, the finance ministry added.
Korea will have the revisions approved by the Cabinet and officially announce them at the end of next month.
The latest sets of measures come in line with efforts to add vitality to the housing market hurt by the soaring borrowing costs.
Last week, the Bank of Korea raised the benchmark seven-day repo rate from 3.25 percent to 3.5 percent, the highest level since 2008. (Yonhap)
