Gangnam Residents Protest Against Real Estate Tax Payments

Citizens living in the Gangnam area of Seoul are showing signs of refusing to pay the comprehensive real estate tax introduced this year.

Some are even preparing to file a constitutional petition, forecasting that it may spread into possible all-out taxation resistance.

Dong-A Ilbo confirmed on December 7 after interviews that residents living in apartments in the Daechi-dong area of Seoul met together at a restaurant in Gangnam on December 5 and discussed tax refusal measures.

An official of the Daechi-dong residents’ autonomy committee said, “Until now, residents had been making individual protests about the injustice of the comprehensive real estate tax, but many are voicing that legal action must be made. The scale of measures will depend on how actively the residents participate, but filing a constitutional petition has also been brought up.”

It was decided at the meeting that concrete measures will be planned after confirming whether the residents, centering mostly on the representatives of each apartment building, subjected to the comprehensive real estate tax will join in the lawsuit or not.

Along with the above plans, they have agreed not to pay the taxes during the voluntary payment period which ends December 15.

However, if taxes are not paid during the payment period after receiving notification from the National Tax Service early next year, an additional penalty will be charged, and so residents are planning to take legal action as soon as possible.

Other areas in Gangnam are not yet showing organized movements, but it turned out that many had individual plans to postpone their payments.

An official of a real estate agency in Apgujeong-dong, where residents held protests against the property tax and refused to pay in September, said, “Many people will not be paying the comprehensive real estate tax right now, and will wait until they are notified to make their payments.”

The NTS announced that some 36 percent, or 74,212 people out of the entire number subjected to the real estate tax, have voluntarily paid their taxes as of December 7.

Ki-Jeong Ko koh@donga.com imsoo@donga.com