주택조세가 주택투자 수익률에 미치는 영향

A Study on Tax burden of Housing

Since the late 1960s, the Korean government has actively employed real estate taxes as a housing policy tool, and taxes have frequently been changed to meet the contemporary policy goals. The effects of real estate taxes on homeowner behavior and market variables, however, are usually analysed only with rough estimates of tax burdens. This study intends to fill the gap by precisely measuring the tax burdens as represented by changes in the internal rate of return(IRR) for house investment. For a sample of apartments drawn from two representative residential areas, Gangnam-gu and Nowon-gu, in Seoul, we calculate the actual tax amounts of various taxes imposed on acquisition, holding, and sale of each apartment. For this calculation, we assume that the investor buys between 2000 and 2007 and holds for five years. Major changes of the acquisition tax include the sharp rise of assessment ratio and frequent changes of the nominal tax rate. The average assessment ratio was under 20% before 2005, but the ratio was raised in 2005 and 2006 to 100%. For eight investment cycles, the acquisition tax on average reduced apartment investor's IRR by 0.32%p. and 0.4%p. respectively for Gangnam-gu and Nowon-gu sample. In the case of real estate holding taxes, the assessment ratio has also been raised sharply, and the composite land tax was abolished while the comprehensive real estate holding tax was introduced. However, such changes has not significantly affected the average tax burden. On average, holding taxes reduced the IRR by 0.28%p. and 0.22%p. respectively for Gangnam-gu and Nowon-gu samples. We find that effective tax burden of the capital gains tax far outweighs other taxes. A qualified one-house owner benefits from tax exemption, but an owner of two or more houses are heavily taxed. For the Gangnam-gu sample, the average IRR of apartment investment for an owner of one, two, or three houses decreased by 0.51%p., 3.11%p., or 5.18%p. respectively by the capital gains tax. The punitive capital gains tax on the owner of three or more houses lowered the total investment return by half. The heavy taxation of the capital gains tax on owners of more than two houses may have been a factor for decreased demands for houses in recent years.