In Korea, real estate is a means to increase wealth because the amount of territory is limited. In addition, people are interested in owning real estate and in where it is located. Although real estate is an important part of economic activity, differ...
In Korea, real estate is a means to increase wealth because the amount of territory is limited. In addition, people are interested in owning real estate and in where it is located. Although real estate is an important part of economic activity, different methods are used to assess the tax base for it as per tax laws. Further, different systems are used to evaluate and determine the standard of the present value of each tax items. It is complicated and violates the principle of tax equity, as different tax burdens are applied depending on the type of real estate subject to taxation. Moreover, it causes inefficiency in tax administration.
The fair assessment of real estate is as important as the tax rate structure. An accurate assessment of property is important, because it directly determines the tax along with the tax rate in the property tax system. However, under Korean tax law, there is no unified method for the assessment of real estate. The assessment method differs for each type of tax; such as income taxes, and inheritance and gift taxes. The lack of a uniform assessment method and assessment date, causes confusion among taxpayers, taxing authorities, and experts. Thus, the current tax system poses many problems for real estate appraisal. One of the problems related to assessing real estate is the fair taxation issue, caused by the difference in the actual price of a property and the standard market price, which is used as the assessed value for taxation. Because different assessment methods are applied to houses, land, and buildings, there is inequality in the valuation of real estate, which could raise the issue of fairness. In addition, there are inherent limitations in real estate assessment methods. Because different methods are used for different types of taxes, the system lacks objectivity, fairness, accuracy and predictability, which causes confusion among taxing authorities and taxpayers.
This study will focus on analyzing fundamental problems in real estate assessment and the current system for disclosing real estate prices. In addition, the study will cover major issues identified in real estate assessments methods under the national tax system and local tax systems through case studies. In particular, the study seeks a practical solution for the assessment of real estate through actual case studies in the Gangnam Gu district in Seoul, Korea.
This study addresses the real estate assessment problem and its improvement by analyzing the following areas; 1) the real estate appraisal system and the public notification system for real estate prices, 2) assessment methods for different types of real estate, and 3) assessment methods under different types of taxes. The results of the study can be summarized as follows.
To begin with, improvements suggested on real estate appraisal system and public notification system for real estate prices are summarized as below.
First, the types of public real estate prices should be simplified to include only land, housings, and other buildings, and real estate should be evaluated by a single institution to ensure consistency. The assessment value should be closely related to market prices. Second, official individual land price and individual housing prices as well as the decision and officially announced date should be assessed by the same institution. Moreover, official individual land prices should be utilized to assess housing prices. Third, evaluation authorities need to be unified and independent and should include evaluation experts and tax officers to determine the prices. Forth, estate prices that have been determined and officially announced should be adjusted for fluctuations in land prices on the date of assessment or the date on which a tax is imposed to determine the amount of national tax and local taxes. Fifth, officially announced prices should be reasonable and realistic. In addition, it is necessary to expand the number of land parcels and houses used for the basis of officially announced prices.
Improvements should be made in the assessment methods for different types of real estate.
The assessment of the nature of the land included in urban planning facilities has certain limitations. Incorporated areas are exempt from the price-value ratio. Thus, the officially announced representative land price and official individual land price are properly evaluated. Second, officially announced prices are realistically adjusted in stages. Until the price matches the real transaction price, adjusted prices that reflect the real transaction prices are used, because there is a difference between the real transaction price and officially announced price. Meanwhile, the tax assessed value application rate and tax rate need to be adjusted along with officially announced price.
Each tax law regarding the assessment of real estate should be improved.
Frst, inheritance and gift taxes could be improved in the following ways. Auctions and public sales, which are determined by bidders’ intention to buy, should go through a re-assessment process by an appraisal institution if the auction price ratio is below a certain level. In addition, if different types of real estate fall below a certain auction price ratio, there should be a verification process regarding the assessment to achieve uniformity and legal stability in administration. As the comparable sales price involves many unconstitutional factors, it should be abolished. However, if this is not practical, taxing authorities should require taxpayers to provide precise information on comparable sales prices. To minimize the problem of different tax due to the fact whether there is comparable sales price, an additional assessment method should be employed in certain cases.
Second, concerning capital gains taxation, the transfer gain owing to an inheritance or a gift is evaluated in accordance with the principle of tax equity and the principle of no taxation without law. Therefore the income tax law should be amended.
Third, under the acquisition tax law, when the real transaction price is higher than the standard of present value, a taxpayer who reports the real transaction price is subject to a higher tax burden than a taxpayer who reports less than the real transaction price. This causes inequality in the tax burden. Therefore, the officially announced price for individual housing and multi-unit dwellings should be evaluated at 100% of the market price so that the officially announced housing price reflects the real transaction price, and the acquisition tax should be determined assessed value on 80% of the officially announced price.
Forth, under the property tax law, non-residential buildings should have an officially announced price system like the one used for housing. The local tax law should state the criteria for determining the residential use of business officetel so that residential officetels are properly taxed. In addition, for residential officetels, the market price determined by the National Tax Service should be used for local taxes instead of the cost criterion used under the current law. Moreover, these methods should be used to the price of residential officetel to be announced officially.
The assessment of real estate significantly affects taxpayers in terms of not only property taxes but also many other types of taxes such as income and consumption taxes. Therefore, real estate assessment methods should be reasonably improved so that the tax burden is imposed equally on taxpayers.