The Constitutional Court will issue a ruling on the constitutionality of the comprehensive real estate tax, which was expanded during the Moon Jae-in administration, on the 30th.
On this day, the Constitutional Court will deliver a judgment by consolidating dozens of constitutional complaints filed regarding provisions of the Comprehensive Real Estate Tax Act. Petitioners who own apartments in Gangnam-gu and Seocho-gu, Seoul, filed constitutional complaints claiming that their property rights were infringed upon due to the significant expansion of the tax liability scope for the comprehensive real estate tax in 2020.
The petitioners argue that the unequal official housing prices cause differences in the tax amount imposed due to incidental circumstances unrelated to the value of the property, such as the location of the owned house, which violates the principle of tax equality. They also claim that the provisions of the Comprehensive Real Estate Tax Act delegate detailed matters regarding taxpayers, tax base, and tax rates broadly to presidential decrees without specific regulations, and that the excessively high tax rates imposed on owners of two houses in designated adjustment areas violate the principles of legality of taxation, equality, and proportionality, rendering them unconstitutional.
However, the petitioners previously filed appeals with the Tax Tribunal, which were dismissed, and also lost a lawsuit filed with the Seoul Administrative Court in July 2022. The Constitutional Court plans to consolidate and review a total of 56 constitutional complaints filed with similar claims regarding the Comprehensive Real Estate Tax Act and announce its ruling on this day.
Since the enactment of the Comprehensive Real Estate Tax Act in 2005, there have been successive constitutional lawsuits at the Constitutional Court. After its enactment, the Roh Moo-hyun administration changed the tax calculation method to aggregate by household and significantly expanded the taxable threshold from 900 million won to 600 million won. However, in 2008, the Constitutional Court ruled the household aggregation method and the lack of exceptions for long-term owners of a single house as constitutionally incompatible. Nonetheless, the Court upheld the constitutionality of the Comprehensive Real Estate Tax Act itself.
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