Land Prices Rise 82 Percent

The official land price, the basis for imposing taxes and appraising land compensations in development projects, has risen an average of 12.40%.

Since the Roh Moo-hyun administration took office, the accumulated growth rate of land price is over 80 percent, increasing land owners’ tax burdens.

The Ministry of Construction and Transportation (MOCT) announced on February 27 that the “Officially Assessed Land Price” increased 12.4 percent from the previous year as of January 1, 2007.

Land prices have showed double-digit growth since the current administration took office from 19.34 percent in 2004 to a four-year accumulated growth rate of 81.87 percent through 2007.

This year in particular, the tax base rate, the standard by which taxes are imposed, has risen from 55 percent to 60 percent, and the application rate of Korea’s comprehensive property tax grew from 70 percent to 80 percent. As a result, some taxpayers will pay 50 percent more property holding taxes due to the increased land prices.

The Officially Assessed Land Price will be available at the MOCT website (www.moct.go.kr) and local administration offices by March 30, and taxpayers can report complaints during the same period.

koh@donga.com