Taxes and Costs When Buying a Home in Korea

Last updated: 2026-06-25

The money beyond the price — know it in advance

The most common mistake first-time buyers make is preparing only the sale price. On closing day, acquisition tax, the brokerage fee, and registration cost are also paid on top of the purchase amount. If you buy a 500 million KRW apartment, you may need roughly 10 million KRW more just for incidental costs. This article splits the costs into the buying stage (acquisition) and the holding stage, and lays out step by step which taxes and costs apply and how much.

Step 1 — Acquisition tax, the biggest one-time tax when buying

Acquisition tax is a local tax paid when you acquire real estate, and it is the largest share of the incidental costs. When a single-home owner buys a home for consideration, the rate depends on the acquisition price.

In the 600-900 million range, the rate increases linearly with the formula (acquisition price × 2 ÷ 300M − 3) ÷ 100. For example, the acquisition tax rate on a 750 million KRW home is 2%. Local education tax at 10% of the acquisition tax always applies, and if the exclusive area exceeds 85 square meters, the special rural development tax of 0.2% of the acquisition price is added. National-housing size (85 square meters or less) is exempt from the rural development tax. If you own 2 or more homes or acquire an additional home in an adjustment target area, a heavy rate of 8% or 12% may apply, so be careful. Check the exact figure in advance with the Acquisition Tax Calculator.

Step 2 — Brokerage fee (commission), the cost of help with the deal

If you transact through a licensed real estate agent, you pay a brokerage fee. It is computed by multiplying the transaction amount by the tiered cap rate. Some lower tiers have a fixed limit, so if the computed value exceeds the limit, the limit becomes the cap.

The amounts in the table are strictly the 'legal maximum'. The actual fee can be negotiated with the agency within the cap, and charging above the cap is prohibited. A general-taxpayer agency may add 10% VAT to the fee. Lease (jeonse/wolse) deals use different rate tiers, so select the transaction type in the Brokerage Fee Calculator to compute it.

Step 3 — Registration cost, putting ownership in your name

Once you pay the balance, you must complete the ownership-transfer registration for the home to legally become yours. The registration cost falls into three parts. The first is the acquisition tax seen above, paid together with the registration filing. The second is the burden of buying national housing bonds plus registration revenue stamps/fees. The bonds must be bought, but if you immediately sell them at a discount, the actual burden shrinks to roughly the discount amount. The third is the judicial scrivener fee for handling the registration, typically around 300,000-900,000 KRW depending on the sale price.

Doing 'self-registration' without a scrivener saves the scrivener fee, but requires document preparation and a registry-office visit. When you also take out a loan, the mortgage setup and ownership transfer must be processed together, so a bank-designated scrivener is often used. To see the acquisition tax and registration incidentals at once, use the Registration Cost Calculator.

Step 4 — If you take a loan, mind LTV and DSR too

If buying with your own funds alone is hard, you use a mortgage. Two regulations then decide your limit. LTV (loan-to-value) is the ratio you can borrow against the home price, and DSR (debt service ratio) is the annual principal-and-interest burden relative to income. The final limit is the lower of the LTV limit and the DSR limit, so even if the home price is sufficient, low income lets DSR cap the limit. To estimate your borrowing capacity in advance, simulate with the LTV/DSR Calculator.

Step 5 — Holding stage, the annual property tax

After buying, you pay property tax each year while you hold the home. Property tax is levied based on the owner as of June 1 each year, and paid in July and September (once in July if the amount is small). The tax base is the published price multiplied by the fair market value ratio (60% for housing), to which progressive rates of 0.1-0.4% are applied. The bill adds the urban-area portion and local education tax on top of the base tax. To gauge your holding-tax burden in advance, use the Property Tax Calculator. High-priced homes above a certain published-price threshold, and multi-home owners, must also consider the comprehensive real estate tax.

Summary — a step-by-step cost checklist

• Acquisition stage — Acquisition tax (+ local education tax 10%, rural dev. tax 0.2% if over 85 m²), brokerage fee, registration cost (bond, stamp, scrivener fee).
• Loan stage — Check LTV/DSR limits, mortgage setup costs, stamp duty, etc.
• Holding stage — Annual property tax (based on June 1); comprehensive real estate tax for high-priced or multi-home cases.
• Budgeting — Set aside about 1.5-4% of the sale price separately for acquisition and registration incidentals.

The exact amount at each stage depends on the deal terms, region, and number of homes. All results are reference estimates, so confirm final amounts with official institutions such as Wetax and Hometax (NTS).

Last updated: 2026-06-25