Seodaemun-gu Local Tax Research Club Wins Excellence Award at National Outstanding Thesis Presentation Contest

'Seodaemun Sense(稅)ation' Team Proposes Reasonable Taxation Measures for Foreigners Acquiring Domestic Housing

Seongheon Lee, Mayor of Seodaemun District (center), is taking a commemorative photo with the district office staff club team "Seodaemun Sense(稅)ation," which won the Excellence Award at the "2023 National Local Tax Research Club Outstanding Thesis Presentation Contest" for their thesis on "Rational Tax System Improvement Measures for Foreigners' Domestic Housing Acquisition." (Photo by Seodaemun District Office)

Seodaemun-gu, Seoul (Mayor Lee Seongheon) announced on the 30th that the district office staff club for local tax research, known as the ‘Seodaemun Sense(稅)ation’ team, recently won the Excellence Award at the ‘2023 National Local Tax Research Club Outstanding Paper Presentation Contest’ hosted by the Korea Local Tax Research Institute.

At the competition held on the 26th at the Korea Local Tax Research Institute in Yangjae-dong, Seoul, the team presented on ‘Rational Taxation System Improvement Measures for Foreigners Acquiring Residential Properties in Korea.’

In the case of foreigners, although a higher tax rate should be applied based on the number of houses owned by family members when acquiring multiple houses domestically, family relationship certificates are not computerized, and foreigners often only list themselves on the foreigner registration card completed upon entry and exit, resulting in de facto reverse discrimination compared to Koreans.

The ‘Seodaemun Sense(稅)ation’ team analyzed these issues and proposed reasonable tax system improvement measures, receiving high praise.

Mayor Lee Seongheon said, “I hope the improvement measures from the local tax research club, which align with tax fairness, will lead to actual legal amendments, and I look forward to the continued activities of the ‘Seodaemun Sense(稅)ation’ team in discovering taxpayer convenience policies and improving systems related to local taxes.”

This local tax research project is planned to be utilized as a system improvement task by government-related departments such as the Ministry of the Interior and Safety in the future.