Lee rules out further capital gains tax deferral

Feb 04, 2026, 07:41 am

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President Lee Jae-myung speaks during a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Feb. 3. / Yonhap

The government will end the deferral of heavier capital gains taxes on multiple homeowners on May 9, drawing a clear line under a policy that had been extended several times to ease market adjustment.

To minimize market disruption, the government is considering allowing transactions with sales contracts completed by May 9 to qualify for tax relief if the balance payment and registration are finalized by Aug. 9. For areas newly designated as regulated zones last year, the deadline for completing registration would be extended by six months to Nov. 9.

President Lee Jae-myung underscored the government’s resolve at a Cabinet meeting on Feb. 3, saying, “This time, it is truly over,” in reference to the end of the tax deferral for multiple-home owners. After hearing a report from Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol, Lee instructed officials to review alternatives for tenants who may be unable to move out within three to six months.

Addressing opposition criticism urging public officials with multiple properties to sell their homes first, Lee said, “That is also problematic,” adding, “If people sell simply because I tell them to, it means the policy has no real effect.” He continued, “Even if we ask them not to sell, the situation should make selling inevitable. People must rationally conclude that giving up multiple homes is in their economic interest.”

Lee further stressed the broader policy objective, saying, “What national task is more important than correcting South Korea’s real estate speculation and the republic of unearned income it has created?” He warned that if the government retreats again, it would undermine its ability to govern for the remaining four-plus years of the term, adding that failure to act now could lead to “another completely lost 20 years, with the bubble inflating until it finally bursts.”

Earlier the same day, Lee reiterated his stance in a post on X, writing that “the tears of young people who give up marriage and childbirth due to high housing costs are far greater than the tears of multiple homeowners seeking unearned income through real estate speculation,” and pledging to crack down on what he called “ruinous property speculation by any means necessary.”

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