September property tax bills total 4.82 trillion won, up 8.9% from a year earlier; Gangnam-gu accounts for 22.3% of the total

A view of Seoul. [Yonhap]
A view of Seoul. [Yonhap]

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Tuesday it had finalized September property tax bills totaling 4.82 trillion won ($3.58 billion) for land and housing owners, up 395.1 billion won, or 8.9 percent, from 4.43 trillion won a year earlier.

By category, land accounts for 2.88 trillion won and the remaining half of the housing levy — the first half having been billed in July — comes to 1.94 trillion won. Property tax is assessed annually as of June 1 against owners of housing, land and buildings. The July billing covers half of the housing levy along with taxes on buildings, aircraft and vessels; the September billing covers land and the remaining half of the housing levy.

The land portion rose 139 billion won, or 5.1 percent, from 2.75 trillion won the previous year, driven by a 4.90 percent increase in officially assessed land prices. The housing portion climbed 256.1 billion won, or 15.2 percent, from 1.68 trillion won, as officially assessed prices for apartment complexes and individual homes rose 18.67 percent and 4.34 percent, respectively.

Among Seoul's 25 autonomous districts, Gangnam-gu recorded the highest September property tax bill at 1.08 trillion won, accounting for 22.3 percent of the citywide total. Seocho-gu followed at 593.4 billion won (12.3 percent), then Songpa-gu at 430.7 billion won (8.9 percent), Jung-gu at 271.2 billion won (5.6 percent), Yongsan-gu at 232.1 billion won (4.8 percent) and Yeongdeungpo-gu at 226.1 billion won (4.7 percent). Seongdong-gu posted the steepest year-on-year increase at 15.6 percent, followed by Songpa-gu at 12.5 percent, Yongsan-gu at 11.5 percent, and Seocho-gu and Dongdaemun-gu each at 10.9 percent. District-level figures include the property tax proper (with the urban-area component), the local resource and facility tax (fire department portion) and the local education tax.

Seongdong-gu's bill rose 21.9 billion won, from 140.7 billion won to 162.7 billion won. Songpa-gu's bill increased 47.8 billion won, from 382.9 billion won to 430.7 billion won.

The city dispatched about 4.43 million tax notices after finalizing the bills. Notices have been sent in stages since Thursday, both by post and electronically via email, apps, financial apps and KT Corp mobile services. The payment deadline is Sept. 30. Owners who miss the deadline may face a 3 percent late-payment surcharge, and the city urged all land and housing owners to pay on time.

To help taxpayers pay conveniently before the deadline, the city offers a range of payment options. Bills can be settled through the city's online tax portal ETAX, the mobile app STAX, simple-payment apps including Kakao Pay, Naver Pay and Toss Pay, dedicated bank accounts, ATMs and automated payment kiosks.

Taxpayers who sign up for electronic delivery instead of paper notices can receive their bills by email or payment app. Both electronic delivery and automatic payment enrollment each qualify for an 800-won tax credit per notice.

For visually impaired taxpayers and those with reduced vision, the city is including a voice-conversion QR code on notices. Scanning the code with the VoiceEye app on a smartphone will read out the bill's contents aloud.

Braille guides were enclosed with notices sent to 2,249 registered blind residents. Foreign taxpayers less familiar with Korean will receive translated guides in six languages: English, Chinese, Japanese, German, French and Mongolian. Foreigners living in Seoul or holding income or assets in the city are subject to the same tax obligations as Korean nationals. Foreign residents registered with the city who have lived there continuously for at least one year must pay the resident tax annually, and those who own real estate or vehicles must pay property tax.

"Financial institutions may be congested and internet access may slow near the payment deadline, so we encourage taxpayers to pay as early as possible," said Shin Ae-seon, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's tax division. "Please be sure to pay within the deadline to avoid penalties such as late-payment surcharges."


cook@heraldcorp.com