The 8% surcharged acquisition tax on buying a second home inside a regulated zone is not the real cost. Local education tax of 0.4% and a special rural development tax of 0.6% ride on top, taking a home over 85 square metres of exclusive floor area to 9.0%. The 12% rate applied from a third home becomes 13.4% the same way.
Below 85 square metres — the national housing size — the rural development tax is exempt, bringing the two figures down to 8.4% and 12.4%. On a 600-million-won home, that single threshold decides 3.6 million won.
The two add-on taxes do not track the main tax. Local education tax runs at 0.1% to 0.3% in proportion to the standard rate, but is applied at a flat 0.4% once the surcharge rates kick in.
The two taxes that ride on 8%
Acquisition tax on housing splits three ways: the main tax, the local education tax layered on it, and the special rural development tax that applies only above 85 square metres. The standard rate on a paid housing transfer is 1% up to 600 million won, then the formula (acquisition value × 2 ÷ 300 million − 3) × 1/100 between 600 and 900 million, and 3% above that. Surcharge rates of 8% on a second home and 12% from a third apply separately inside regulated zones.
Local education tax is the acquisition value multiplied by (tax rate × 50%) × 20%, so within the standard band it tracks a tenth of the main rate, from 0.1% to 0.3%. Once a surcharge rate applies, that proportionality breaks and a flat 0.4% is used. The rural development tax is in principle 10% of the acquisition tax due, but is set at 0.2% in the standard band, 0.6% at the 8% surcharge and 1.0% at 12%. Together they come out as follows.
| Case | Acquisition tax (%) | Local education tax (%) | Rural development tax (%) | Total, over 85㎡ (%) | Total, 85㎡ or under (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard, up to 600m won | 1.0 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 1.1 |
| Standard, 750m won | 2.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 2.4 | 2.2 |
| Standard, above 900m won | 3.0 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 3.5 | 3.3 |
| Surcharge, second home | 8.0 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 9.0 | 8.4 |
| Surcharge, third home or more | 12.0 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 13.4 | 12.4 |
The striking line is the local education tax under the surcharge. The main tax jumps 2.7-fold from 3% to 8%, while the education tax rises only 0.1pp, from 0.3% to 0.4%. The rural development tax, by contrast, triples from 0.2% to 0.6%. What drives the add-on burden in the surcharge band is not the education tax but the floor-area threshold behind the rural development tax.
A 600-million-won flat: first home versus second
The rates above applied to a 600-million-won home in a regulated zone. The split between 84㎡ and 100㎡ exists because the rural development tax exemption sits at 85㎡.
| Case | Acquisition tax (m won) | Local education tax (m won) | Rural development tax (m won) | Total (m won) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st home · 84㎡ | 6.00 | 0.60 | 0 | 6.60 |
| 1st home · 100㎡ | 6.00 | 0.60 | 1.20 | 7.80 |
| 2nd home · 84㎡ | 48.00 | 2.40 | 0 | 50.40 |
| 2nd home · 100㎡ | 48.00 | 2.40 | 3.60 | 54.00 |
| 3rd home · 84㎡ | 72.00 | 2.40 | 0 | 74.40 |
| 3rd home · 100㎡ | 72.00 | 2.40 | 6.00 | 80.40 |
On the same 600-million-won home, 6.6 million won for a first home at 84㎡ and 80.4 million won for a third at 100㎡ stand 12.2 times apart. Moving one step from a first to a second home adds 43.8 million won at 84㎡. Acquisition tax is fixed once at the moment of acquisition regardless of how long the property is held, so that amount cannot be unwound by whatever prices do afterwards.
Acquisition tax is not a tax that can be adjusted after the purchase. The number of homes owned and the exclusive floor area on the day the contract is signed set the rate, and it does not change after that.
Between 600 and 900 million, the rate is a line, not a step
The band most often misread in the standard schedule runs from 600 to 900 million won. It is not a flat 2% but a continuous line climbing from 1% to 3% with the acquisition value. Feeding the formula through gives this.
| Acquisition value | Formula rate (%) | Acquisition tax (m won) | Local education tax (m won) | Total, 85㎡ or under (m won) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 600m won | 1.000 | 6.00 | 0.60 | 6.60 |
| 650m won | 1.333 | 8.67 | 0.87 | 9.54 |
| 700m won | 1.667 | 11.67 | 1.17 | 12.84 |
| 750m won | 2.000 | 15.00 | 1.50 | 16.50 |
| 800m won | 2.333 | 18.67 | 1.87 | 20.54 |
| 850m won | 2.667 | 22.67 | 2.27 | 24.94 |
| 900m won | 3.000 | 27.00 | 2.70 | 29.70 |
At 650 million won the rate is 6.5 × 2 ÷ 3 − 3 = 1.333%. Every additional 10 million won of value adds 0.0667pp to the rate. Across the band, the combined bill grows 4.5-fold from 6.6 to 29.7 million won, and more than half of that comes from the rate itself rising rather than the base. The table shows immediately what a 50-million-won negotiation moves in tax terms. The overlap with the first-time buyer reduction is set out in the piece on first-time buyer acquisition tax relief.
The rural development tax turns on 85 square metres
The special rural development tax is exempt on homes of 85 square metres or less. National housing size and farmhouses qualify; above the line, it is charged as 10% of the acquisition tax due. In the surcharge band that gap widens.
Buying a 600-million-won home as a second property means zero at 84㎡ and 3.6 million won at 100㎡. As a third home, the gap runs from zero to 6 million won. In other words, 6 million won turns on the difference between 84.9 and 85.1 square metres. That threshold is one reason so many apartment layouts land on the 84㎡ type, and it is why the exclusive floor area has to be checked before signing, whatever the intended use. Missing that it is exclusive area rather than supplied area, which includes common space, throws the whole calculation off.
Homes that drop out of the count — 200 million won of published price, outside the capital region
Surcharge rates depend on counting the homes already owned, and some homes fall outside that count. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety raised the published-price threshold for excluding low-priced regional homes from 100 million to 200 million won, in an enforcement decree amendment passed by the Cabinet on 22 April 2025. It applies only outside the capital region; Seoul and the surrounding area are excluded.
So a household owning one home in the capital region that buys a home outside it with a published price of 200 million won or less faces no surcharge on that purchase, and the home does not enter the count for any later purchase. Inside the capital region, no such exception exists at any price. Because what counts as a home shifts between tax headings, each one has to be checked separately, as with whether an officetel counts as a home or how occupancy rights and pre-sale rights enter the count.
Filing and payment are due within 60 days of the acquisition date, either to the local authority or through the Wetax portal. Missing that deadline triggers a non-filing penalty.
What to check
- Whether the area is designated a regulated zone at the contract date — the surcharge hangs on that designation, and the thresholds by number of homes differ outside regulated zones, so confirm with Wetax or the local authority
- Whether exclusive floor area exceeds 85㎡ — exclusive, not supplied. On a 600-million-won third home, that one line decides 6 million won
- Whether any owned home drops out of the count — regional homes with a published price of 200 million won or less, from the April 2025 amendment
- The formula rate if the value falls between 600 and 900 million won — 0.0667pp per 10 million won, so price negotiation feeds straight into the bill
- The 60-day filing and payment deadline, counted from the acquisition date rather than the balance-payment date
- The combined figure including both add-on taxes — plan funding around 9.0% rather than 8%, and 13.4% rather than 12%
Sources
- Moving house — settling the balance, registration and paying tax on a purchase (Easy Law)
- Real estate tax law — local taxes, acquisition tax (Easy Law)
- Property purchase — taxes borne by the buyer (Easy Law)
- Local education tax and rural development tax are add-ons to acquisition tax, filed together (Ilgan NTN)
- Easing of acquisition tax surcharge rules for low-priced regional homes (Ministry of the Interior and Safety)