Gov`t to Impose Heavier Property Tax on New Cities

The government decided to significantly raise property tax on metropolitan areas such as Bundang, Ilsan and Gwachun, which are regarded as `non-speculative areas` starting from next year.

The government also plans to detect people who are frequently involved in land speculation through the `comprehensive land management network` jointly run by the Ministry of Construction and Transportation and the Ministry of Government Administration and Home.

The news came on the 16th at an economic policy coordination meeting presided over by Chun Yun-cheol, Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister.

The government decided to take measures to impose heavy property tax on such areas as Bundang, Ilsan and Gwachun by the end of this year as there has been mounting criticism that these `non-speculative areas` are taking advantages over `speculative areas`, which have so far been imposed with heavier property tax than `non-speculative areas`.

If the subscription rate for newly constructed apartments for the past two months is 5 to 1 and over in a certain area, the area is designated as `speculative area`. Thus, the government plans to lay out new regulation to impose heavier property tax on such areas as Bundang, Ilsan and Gwachun, which rarely have new apartment construction.

The Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs decided to collect opinions from related agencies and local governments to come up with rational improvement measures by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Construction and Transportation sent the list of 31,761 people who purchased lands more than twice in the metropolitan area and Jeju Island between last year and the first half of this year to the National Tax Service.

The Ministry is expected to notice the National Tax Service of the list of those who have frequently traded lands in Chunan and Asan, Chungnam Province, where `new city projects` are under consideration.

In addition, the government will activate the `comprehensive land management network` linking the Ministry of Construction and Transportation and the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs every three months.

This network shows the statements of land transactions and possession by individuals.

The two ministries plans to send the list of speculative suspects figured out through the network to the National Tax Service so that the list can be used as basic information for the tax authority`s investigation against speculative suspects.

Also the government decided to graduate 14 out of 21 companies under the government`s workout program and normalize their operation earlier than the schedule. The remaining seven companies will go through the restructuring process as initially planned.