Gyeonggi Province will conduct a joint special investigation with city and county governments across the province until June on suspected false or fraudulent real estate transaction price reports and illegal brokerage activities.
The investigation targets a total of 1,814 cases reported between July and December last year, including tax evasion and 'up-down contracts' reported to raise mortgage loan limits, false transaction reports where high prices are reported and then canceled without monetary transactions to manipulate real estate market prices, and cases suspected of false reporting raised through civil complaints or media reports.
The province will also investigate the sources of funds listed in the housing transaction financing plans. In particular, it will focus on ▲ minors acquiring houses worth over 300 million KRW ▲ persons under 30 years old purchasing high-priced houses exceeding 900 million KRW ▲ and transactions conducted with other borrowings without loans.
Additionally, if illegal activities by unqualified persons or licensed real estate agents are detected in transactions reported as direct deals without brokers, they will be reported to investigative agencies.
The investigation will begin by receiving related explanatory materials from the transaction parties. If the submitted materials are insufficient or not provided, attendance for investigation will be required. Even if explanatory materials are submitted, cases with prices significantly different from market prices or strong suspicions of tax evasion such as capital gains tax or gift tax will be reported to the National Tax Service and relevant tax offices, and data will be provided to the provincial Tax Justice Division for local tax violation investigations.
Those who submit false explanatory materials or false reports will face fines up to 30 million KRW. Those who falsely report transaction prices or other matters will be fined 5% of the actual real estate transaction value and will be subject to tax investigations for suspected evasion of capital gains tax or gift tax.
Last year, through a special investigation, the province identified 483 violators of real estate transaction reporting regulations, imposed fines totaling approximately 2.44 billion KRW, and requested the National Tax Service to conduct tax investigations on 653 suspicious cases.
Individuals who report illegal real estate transactions will receive a reward of up to 10 million KRW. Eligible reports include false reporting of real estate transaction prices and false reports without monetary transactions. Reports can be made to the real estate management departments of the city, county, or district where the violating property is located.
A provincial official stated, "We plan to focus administrative efforts on investigating illegal real estate transaction activities to establish a fair and transparent real estate transaction order and realize tax justice," adding, "We plan to reduce fines for voluntary reporters."
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