Article 155 (Special Cases for One Household with One House)

If a household owns one inherited house (including a newly built house acquired after the completion of business implementation by inheriting a right to subscribe for a unit in a cooperative or a pre-sale right, and if the deceased owned two or more houses at the time of the commencement of inheritance {including cases where one inherited house becomes two or more houses due to the implementation of redevelopment projects (hereinafter referred to as "redevelopment projects"), reconstruction projects (hereinafter referred to as "reconstruction projects"), or small-scale reconstruction projects, small-scale development projects, block-unit development projects, or autonomous housing development projects (hereinafter referred to as "small-scale reconstruction projects, etc.") under the Act on Improvement of Urban Areas, Bugyo-dong, etc.}), the household shall be deemed to own one house in Korea when transferring the "general house" (referring only to houses owned at the time of the commencement of inheritance, or newly built houses acquired after the completion of business implementation through the right to subscribe for a unit in a cooperative or a pre-sale right owned at the time of the commencement of inheritance; excluding houses gifted by the deceased within 2 years prior to the commencement of inheritance or newly built houses acquired after the completion of business implementation through gifted rights to subscribe for units in cooperatives or pre-sale rights). Hereinafter referred to as "general house" in this paragraph) and applies Article 154 (1). However, if the heir and the deceased were one household at the time of the commencement of inheritance, and the household becomes two houses due to merging households to live together with a lineal ascendant (including the lineal ascendant of the spouse, but only if one or both of the lineal ascendants are 60 years of age or older and own one house at the time of merging households), only the houses owned prior to the merging shall be considered inherited houses (hereinafter the same applies in Paragraphs 3, 7 (1), 156-2 (7) (1), and 156-3 (5) (1)). <Amended by Dec. 31, 1997, Oct. 1, 2002, Dec. 30, 2002, Feb. 22, 2008, Feb. 18, 2010, Feb. 2, 2012, Feb. 15, 2013, Feb. 21, 2014, Feb. 3, 2017, Feb. 13, 2018, Feb. 11, 2020, Feb. 17, 2021, Feb. 15, 2022> 1. The house owned by the deceased for the longest period. 2. If there are two or more houses owned by the deceased for the same period, the house inhabited by the deceased for the longest period. 3. If there are two or more houses owned and inhabited by the deceased for the same period, the house inhabited by the deceased at the time of the commencement of inheritance. 4. If there are two or more houses not inhabited by the deceased and owned for the same period, the house with the highest standard market price (if the standard market prices are the same, the house chosen by the heir).

If a person forming a household with one house merges households to live together with a lineal ascendant aged 60 or older who owns one house (including the persons listed in the following subparagraphs, and hereinafter the same applies in this Article), the house transferred first within 10 years from the date of merging households shall be deemed as one household with one house and Article 154 (1) shall apply. <Amended by Dec. 31, 1996, Dec. 31, 1999, Oct. 1, 2002, Feb. 4, 2009, Feb. 2, 2012, Feb. 13, 2018, Feb. 12, 2019, Dec. 30, 2025> 1. Lineal ascendants of the spouse who are 60 years of age or older. 2. Lineal ascendants (including lineal ascendants of the spouse) where one or more are under 60 years of age. 3. Lineal ascendants (including lineal ascendants of the spouse) under 60 years of age who are receiving medical benefits pursuant to Article 2 (3) a. 3), b. 2), or e) of the Enforcement Decree of the National Health Insurance Act, as prescribed by the Minister of Finance and Economy.

If a household owns one of the houses listed in each of the following subparagraphs and another house (hereinafter referred to as "general house" in this paragraph) in Korea, the household shall be deemed to own one house in Korea and apply Article 154 (1) when transferring the general house. <Amended by Dec. 30, 2002, Feb. 19, 2005, Aug. 17, 2007, Feb. 18, 2010, Dec. 29, 2010, Dec. 31, 2019, May 26, 2020, May 7, 2024, Sep. 10, 2024> 1. Designated cultural heritage under the Cultural Heritage Protection and Utilization Act, national registered cultural heritage under the Protection and Utilization of Modern and Contemporary Cultural Heritage Act, and natural monuments, etc. under the Protection and Utilization of Natural Heritage Act. 2. Deleted <Feb. 8, 1999> 3. Deleted <Feb. 8, 1999>

If a household owns a house located outside the Seoul Metropolitan Area (hereinafter referred to as "general house" in this paragraph) due to reasons such as studying, employment, medical treatment, or other unavoidable circumstances prescribed by the Minister of Strategy and Finance (hereinafter referred to as "unavoidable circumstances" in this paragraph), and another house, the general house shall be deemed as one house, and Article 154 (1) shall apply if the general house is transferred within 3 years from the date when the unavoidable circumstances are resolved. <Newly enacted by Nov. 28, 2008, Amended by Feb. 2, 2012, Dec. 30, 2025>

In Paragraph 7 (3), "house for a person returning to farming or fishing" refers to a house acquired (including those acquired before returning to farming or fishing) and inhabited by a person intending to engage in farming or fishing, which meets the following requirements. <Amended by Apr. 1, 1998, Dec. 30, 2002, Feb. 28, 2007, Feb. 29, 2008, Feb. 4, 2009, Feb. 21, 2014, Feb. 17, 2016, Mar. 31, 2016, Feb. 12, 2019, Feb. 15, 2022, Dec. 30, 2025, Feb. 27, 2026> 1. Deleted <Feb. 17, 2016> 2. The house is not a high-priced house as defined in each subparagraph of Article 89 (1) 3. at the time of acquisition. 3. The land area is within 660 square meters. 4. Acquired for the purpose of farming or fishing, and meets one of the following: a. A person who owns 1,000 square meters or more of farmland, or their spouse, acquires a house in the location of the said farmland (referring to the location of farmland under Article 153 (3). Hereinafter the same applies in this Article). b. A person who owns 1,000 square meters or more of farmland, or their spouse, acquires a house in the location of the said farmland within 1 year prior to owning the said farmland. c. A person engaged in fishing or their spouse, as prescribed by the Minister of Strategy and Finance, acquires it. 5. All members of the household move in and reside therein (including cases where some members of the household cannot move in due to reasons such as studying, employment, medical treatment, or other unavoidable circumstances prescribed by the Minister of Strategy and Finance).

If a homeowner of a house for a person returning to farming or fishing who has received the benefit of Paragraph 7, does not engage in farming or fishing for 3 years or more from the date of returning to farming or fishing (the date of establishing resident registration in the house for a person returning to farming or fishing and starting residence, and if farmland is acquired after acquiring the house pursuant to Article 10 (4) b., the date of acquiring the farmland after establishing resident registration in the house for a person returning to farming or fishing and starting residence) or does not reside in the house during that period, the transferred general house shall not be deemed as one household with one house, and the homeowner of the house for a person returning to farming or fishing shall report and pay capital gains tax calculated by the following formula within 2 months from the end of the month in which the reason for not engaging in farming or fishing or not residing in the house for 3 years or more occurs. In this case, when calculating the period of 3 years, if inheritance commences during that period, the farming or fishing period of the deceased and the farming or fishing period of the heir shall be combined. <Amended by Feb. 15, 2013, Mar. 31, 2016> <img src="http://www.law.go.kr/flDownload.do?flSeq=22010556" alt="img22010556" >┌───────────────────────────────┐│ Capital Gains Tax Payable = Tax Payable if Article 7 were not applied to the transfer of the general house │ - Tax Paid by applying Article 7 to the transfer of the general house │└───────────────────────────────┘</img>

Matters concerning the scope of rural houses and other details to be applied in Paragraphs 7 through 13 shall be prescribed by the Minister of Strategy and Finance. <Amended by Apr. 1, 1998, Feb. 29, 2008, Dec. 30, 2025>

When applying Paragraph 1 (limited to cases where one house is owned in the Seoul Metropolitan Area), if a corporation or a public institution (referred to as "public institution" in Article 2 (14) of the Act on the Balanced Development of Local Governments and Decentralization) located in the Seoul Metropolitan Area relocates to an area outside the Seoul Metropolitan Area, and another house acquired by a household consisting of executives, employees, and public institution personnel is located in the city (including special cities, metropolitan cities, and administrative cities established pursuant to Article 10 (2) of the Act on the Establishment of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and the Development of International Free City. Hereinafter the same applies in this paragraph), Gu, or an adjacent city/Gu to which the public institution or corporation has relocated, "3 years" in Paragraph 1 shall be deemed as "5 years". In this case, the requirement of acquiring another house after 1 year or more has passed since the acquisition of the former house shall not apply to such household. <Amended by June 29, 2012, Feb. 15, 2013, Mar. 11, 2014, Jan. 22, 2016, Feb. 12, 2019, June 8, 2021, July 7, 2023>

In Article 89 (1) 4. b., "circumstances prescribed by Presidential Decree" means cases falling under any of the following subparagraphs as of the date 3 years from the date of acquiring another house. <Newly enacted by Feb. 3, 2017, Amended by Feb. 9, 2018, Feb. 11, 2020, Feb. 17, 2021, Feb. 15, 2022, Feb. 17, 2022> 1. Cases where a sale has been requested to the Korea Asset Management Corporation established under the Act on the Establishment of Korea Asset Management Corporation, etc. 2. Cases where auction has been applied to the court. 3. Cases where public auction is underway under the National Tax Collection Act. 4. Cases where a lawsuit is pending seeking payment of cash compensation for land etc. by landowners who are to receive cash compensation pursuant to Article 73 of the Act on Improvement of Urban Areas, Bugyo-dong, etc. or Article 36 of the Act on Special Measures for Small-scale Housing Improvement, due to the implementation of redevelopment projects, reconstruction projects, or small-scale reconstruction projects, etc., or where the lawsuit has been terminated but the compensation has not been paid. 5. Cases where expropriation decisions or lawsuits seeking the purchase of property have been filed or are pending by the business implementer against landowners (hereinafter referred to as "landowners" in this subparagraph) pursuant to Article 73 of the Act on Improvement of Urban Areas, Bugyo-dong, etc. or Article 36 of the Act on Special Measures for Small-scale Housing Improvement, due to the implementation of redevelopment projects, reconstruction projects, or small-scale reconstruction projects, etc., or where the decisions or lawsuits have been terminated but the landowners have not received payment of the purchase price, etc.

If a household owns one house in Korea which is a long-term rental house falling under Article 167-3 (1) 2. (in the case of houses falling under subparagraphs a and c of the same subparagraph, the time limit prescribed in the proviso of the respective subparagraph shall not apply, but it shall be limited to houses for which a business registration application as a private rental housing business operator under Article 5 of the Special Act on Private Rental Housing was filed before July 10, 2020 (including an application for modification of registration to add rental houses), and in the case of houses falling under subparagraph e of the same subparagraph, it includes houses under sub-item 1) of the same subparagraph (limited to cases not falling under sub-items 2) and 3)), or a house falling under Article 167-3 (1) 8-2 (hereinafter referred to as "long-term childcare facility") and another house, and meets the conditions of subparagraphs 1 and 2, or 1 and 3, and transfers the said one house (hereinafter referred to as "residence house" in this Article), it shall be deemed to own one house in Korea and apply Article 154 (1). In this case, if the residence house has been registered as a private rental housing under Article 5 of the Special Act on Private Rental Housing, or has obtained approval under Article 13 (1) of the Infant Care Act or has been entrusted under Article 24 (2) of the same Act and used as a childcare facility, and there is a previous residence house transferred during the holding period (if there are two or more previously transferred residence houses, it refers to the most recently transferred residence house. Hereinafter referred to as "previous residence house"), and the current residence house is a "residence house holding a previous residence house" (hereinafter referred to as "residence house holding a previous residence house" in this paragraph), Article 154 (1) shall apply only to the period after the transfer date of the previous residence house, deeming it as owning one house in Korea. <Newly enacted by Oct. 14, 2011, Amended by Feb. 2, 2012, Feb. 15, 2013, Feb. 3, 2015, Dec. 28, 2015, Feb. 3, 2017, Feb. 13, 2018, Feb. 12, 2019, Feb. 11, 2020, Oct. 7, 2020, Feb. 17, 2021, Feb. 15, 2022, Feb. 28, 2025> 1. Residence house: The period of residence during the holding period (in the case of a residence house holding a previous residence house, it refers to the period after the date of business registration and private rental housing business operator registration under Article 5 of the Special Act on Private Rental Housing, the date of obtaining approval under Article 13 (1) of the Infant Care Act, or the operation commencement date stated in the entrustment contract under Article 24 (2) of the same Act) shall be 2 years or more. 2. Long-term rental house: As of the date of transfer, the business operator is registered under Article 168, the long-term rental house is rented as a private rental housing under Article 5 of the Special Act on Private Rental Housing, and the rate of increase in rental deposit or rent (hereinafter referred to as "rental fees, etc." in this subparagraph) does not exceed 5 percent. In this case, a request for an increase in rental fees, etc. cannot be made within 1 year from the conclusion of the lease agreement or the agreed increase in rental fees, etc., and if a rental business operator requests an increase in rental fees, etc. and converts between the rental deposit and monthly rent, the conversion regulations under Article 44 (4) of the Special Act on Private Rental Housing shall apply mutatis mutandis. 3. Long-term childcare facility: As of the date of transfer, a unique identification number has been assigned under Article 168, and the long-term childcare facility is in operation.

If a household fails to meet the rental period requirements or operation period requirements after receiving the benefit of Paragraph 21 (including cases where the period of not renting the required number of units of long-term rental houses exceeds 6 months), the household shall report and pay capital gains tax calculated by the formula in subparagraph 1 within 2 months from the end of the month in which the reason occurred. In this case, the special provisions for calculating rental period requirements and operation period requirements in subparagraph 2 shall apply accordingly. <Amended by Feb. 2, 2012, Feb. 15, 2013, Feb. 3, 2017, Feb. 9, 2018, Feb. 13, 2018, Feb. 11, 2020, Oct. 7, 2020, Feb. 15, 2022, Dec. 30, 2025> 1. Formula for calculating capital gains tax payable: Tax Payable if the rental house or childcare facility were not deemed as a long-term rental house or long-term childcare facility at the time of transferring the residence house - Tax Paid by applying Paragraph 20 to the transfer of the residence house. 2. Special Provisions for Calculating Rental Period Requirements and Operation Period Requirements: a. If the rental period requirements or operation period requirements cannot be met, or if the required number of units of long-term rental houses are not rented, due to unavoidable circumstances such as expropriation under the Act on Acquisition of and Compensation for Land, etc. for Public Works, it shall be deemed that the rental house continues to be rented or the childcare facility continues to be operated. b. In cases of reconstruction projects, redevelopment projects, or small-scale reconstruction projects, etc., the period from 6 months before the approval date of the management disposition plan under Article 74 of the Act on Improvement of Urban Areas, Bugyo-dong, etc. (or the business implementation plan under Article 29 of the Act on Special Measures for Small-scale Housing Improvement in the case of small-scale reconstruction projects, etc. Hereinafter referred to as "management disposition plan, etc.") to 6 months after the completion date shall not be included in the calculation of the period of not operating the childcare facility or not renting the required number of units of long-term rental houses. c. In cases of remodeling under Article 2 of the Housing Act, the period from 6 months before the approval date of the business plan under Article 15 of the same Act or the permit date of remodeling under Article 66 of the same Act to 6 months after the completion date shall not be included in the calculation of the period of not renting the required number of units of long-term rental houses. d. If a long-term rental house falling under Article 167-3 (1) 2. a. and c. through e. (limited to houses to which Article 5 (1) of the Addenda to the Special Act on Private Rental Housing, Act No. 17482, applies) has its registration canceled due to any of the following reasons and fails to meet the rental period requirements prescribed in Article 167-3 (1) 2. a. and c. through e., it shall be deemed to have met the rental period requirements on the date of cancellation of registration. 1) Cases where the registration is canceled upon application for cancellation of registration within the mandatory rental period of the rental business operator pursuant to Article 6 (1) 11 of the Special Act on Private Rental Housing (limited to cases where at least half of the mandatory rental period under Article 43 of the same Act has been rented). 2) Cases where the registration is canceled on the date the mandatory rental period ends pursuant to Article 6 (5) of the Special Act on Private Rental Housing. e. If a long-term rental house that was being rented due to redevelopment projects, reconstruction projects, or small-scale reconstruction projects, etc. is destroyed, and a newly acquired house due to new acquisition or remodeling under Article 2 of the Housing Act fails to meet any of the following conditions, it shall be deemed to have met the rental period requirements on the date the registration of the original house (meaning the house before new acquisition due to reconstruction, etc., hereinafter referred to as "original house" in this item) was canceled. However, if the period of not renting the required number of units of long-term rental houses (meaning the period calculated according to the main clauses of this paragraph) exceeds 6 months, it shall not be deemed to have met the rental period requirements. 1) If the newly acquired house is a privately purchased rental house that rents an apartment among long-term general private rental houses as defined in Article 2 (5) of the former Special Act on Private Rental Housing after July 11, 2020, or a short-term private rental house as defined in Article 2 (6) of the same Act, and a business registration application as a private rental housing business operator under Article 5 of the former Special Act on Private Rental Housing has been filed (including an application for modification of registration to add rental houses. Hereinafter the same applies in this item). 2) If the newly acquired house is an apartment (if the original house was registered as a short-term private rental house, it refers to all houses) and a business registration application as a private rental housing business operator under Article 5 of the Special Act on Private Rental Housing has not been filed.

Any person who wishes to receive the benefit of Paragraph 20 shall submit the tax return for the taxable income of the residence house for the tax period in which the transfer date falls, and the application form prescribed by the Minister of Strategy and Finance, along with the documents listed in the following subparagraphs, to the head of the tax office in charge of the place of taxation. <Newly enacted by Oct. 14, 2011, Amended by Feb. 2, 2012, Dec. 28, 2015, Feb. 3, 2017, Feb. 13, 2018, Feb. 11, 2020, Oct. 7, 2020, Feb. 17, 2021, Feb. 15, 2022, Dec. 30, 2025> 1. Copy of the entrustment contract for national and public childcare facilities, if entrusted with the operation of a childcare facility under Article 24 of the Infant Care Act. 2. Copy of the lease agreement for the long-term rental house. 3. Resident registration card of the tenant or a copy thereof. In this case, it may be substituted by the record of examination of the relocated family's resident registration obtained under Article 29 (1) of the Resident Registration Act. 4. Other documents prescribed by the Minister of Strategy and Finance.