Why land beyond the attached-land limit is taxed separately
This calculator is based on Korean rules: the 2026 Income Tax Act and its Enforcement Decree as checked on 2026-10-29.
When selling a country house or rural home on a large plot, many owners assume that “one household, one home” makes the whole sale tax-free.
Korean tax law, however, limits the land exempted with the house to a multiple of the building footprint.
Yards, vegetable gardens and back lots beyond that limit fall out of the exemption even under the same contract and are taxed as non-business land at basic rates plus 10 percentage points.
The calculator computes the exempt land limit from the zone multiplier and splits one sale price and capital gain into a house portion and an excess land portion, taxing each separately.
The house portion uses the existing capital gains engine for the single-home exemption, high-value apportionment and long-term holding deduction; the excess land uses non-business rates and long-term deduction table 1.
It also shows how the tax changes if the excess land is subdivided and sold in a later year, and how much more you pay than if the whole plot were exempt.
Three questions this tool answers
- How many m² of my plot are exempt and how many are excess?
- How much unexpected capital gains and local income tax does the excess land create?
- Is selling everything at once or subdividing and selling the excess later better after tax?
Attached-land multipliers by zone
The exempt land limit is “building footprint × regional multiplier”.
Enforcement Decree Article 154(7) and Article 168-12 (for the non-business land test) set the same multipliers.
Attached-land multipliers by zone and the limit for a 120 m² footprint| Location and zone | Multiplier | Limit for 120 m² |
|---|
| Capital region urban area: residential, commercial, industrial | 3x | 360 m² |
| Capital region urban area: green zone | 5x | 600 m² |
| Urban areas outside the capital region | 5x | 600 m² |
| Outside urban areas (management, agricultural, conservation) | 10x | 1,200 m² |
With the same footprint, the limit is 360 m² in a capital-region residential zone but 1,200 m² in a rural management zone.
Conversely, a town designated as an urban area outside the capital region uses 5x, so assuming “rural means 10x” can miss excess land.
Check the zone on the land-use plan certificate and the building area on the building register before entering them.
The excess land is a separate asset taxed as non-business land
Income Tax Act Article 104-3(1)5 treats attached land beyond footprint × regional multiplier as non-business land.
Under Article 104(1)8, non-business land is taxed at the basic rates (6–45%) plus 10 percentage points, i.e. 16–55%.
If held for less than two years, the higher of the short-term rates (50% under one year, 40% under two years) applies.
Exempt scope
Only the house building and land within the limit qualify for the single-home exemption or high-value apportionment.
Long-term deduction
The excess land uses general table 1 (2% per year from three years, up to 30%), not the single-home table 2 (up to 80%).
Basic deduction
The KRW 2.5 million basic deduction applies once a year, so a taxable house portion uses it first and the remainder goes to the excess land.
The period test is simplified
Non-business status is decided under Decree Article 168-6 by whether the non-business period exceeds certain thresholds.
For holdings of five years or more, land is non-business only if it exceeds two of the last five years, one of the last three years and 40% of the holding period.
The calculator assumes the excess existed throughout the holding period because the footprint did not change; if there were extensions, demolition or self-farming of the excess, check with the non-business land calculator.
Splitting one sale into two taxable units
Area and value apportionment
Limit = footprint × multiplier
Excess area = max(0, land area − limit)
Excess sale price = sale price × land share × excess area ÷ land area
House sale price = sale price − excess sale price
The acquisition price is split the same way using the land share at acquisition; acquisition costs follow the acquisition-price ratio and transfer costs the sale-price ratio.
Use the land/building split in the contract if it was stated, or else the land standard value as a share of the combined land and building standard values at that date.
Within the plot, one price per m² is assumed and the land is split by area, so if a road-front parcel and a landlocked back parcel differ greatly in value, appraisal ratios are more accurate.
Amounts are truncated to whole won and the remainder stays with the house portion.
Inputs and step-by-step use
- Zone: choose the zone at the time of sale.
For expropriation, choose the zone on the day before the project approval notice.
- Areas: enter the building area (footprint) from the building register and the total attached land area in m².
- Household status: enter the number of homes at sale, residence period and regulated-area status.
For one home, the residence rule follows regulated status at acquisition.
- Dates and prices: enter acquisition and sale dates, total sale and acquisition prices and the land share of each.
- Expenses: enter acquisition-side costs such as acquisition tax, brokerage and capital expenditure, and transfer costs such as sale brokerage.
- Excess land and subdivision: the default is non-business; change it only if you can prove a business-use exception.
Enter how many years later the subdivided land would be sold and the survey cost to see the separate-sale scenario.
- Save: download the TXT review sheet for an adviser meeting or the preliminary return.
Fictional example: a KRW 900 million country house with 390 m² of excess land
Assume a detached house in an urban area outside the capital region (footprint 120 m², plot 990 m²) bought on 2008-04-15 for KRW 200 million (land 70%) and sold on 2026-12-15 for KRW 900 million (land 80%).
It is a single home outside regulated areas, lived in for 18 years, with KRW 10 million of acquisition costs and KRW 6 million of transfer costs.
The limit is 120 m² × 5 = 600 m², so 390 m² is excess land.
House portion and excess land tax split for the fictional country house| Item | House portion (building + 600 m²) | Excess land 390 m² |
|---|
| Sale price | KRW 616,363,637 | KRW 283,636,363 |
| Acquisition price | KRW 144,848,485 | KRW 55,151,515 |
| Allocated expenses (acquisition + sale) | KRW 11,351,516 | KRW 4,648,484 |
| Capital gain | Exempt | KRW 223,836,364 |
| Long-term deduction 30% (18 years) | - | KRW 67,150,909 |
| Tax base (after KRW 2.5 million allowance) | - | KRW 154,185,455 |
| Computed tax (38% + 10 pp, KRW 19.94 million progressive deduction) | KRW 0 | KRW 54,069,018 |
| Local income tax 10% | KRW 0 | KRW 5,406,902 |
| Total burden | KRW 0 | KRW 59,475,920 |
If you assumed the whole KRW 900 million was exempt, you would expect zero tax, but the excess land actually costs KRW 59,475,920.
Net proceeds are KRW 834,524,080 after the KRW 6 million transfer costs and tax.
Here the long-term deduction is already at its 30% cap, so selling the subdivided excess a year later yields the same tax and the KRW 3 million survey cost is a pure loss.
High-value houses: the Article 104(5) comparison and when subdivision helps
When the house portion is also taxable, there is one more step.
Income Tax Act Article 104(5) provides that when two or more land or building assets are sold in the same year, the computed tax is the larger of “basic rates on the combined tax base” and “the sum of per-asset taxes”, and that a parcel split into non-business and other land is treated as separate assets.
Fictional example 2: a KRW 2 billion capital-region house
With a 150 m² footprint and 660 m² plot in a residential zone (3x), the limit is 450 m² and 210 m² is excess.
Bought in 2014 for KRW 600 million (land 80%), sold in 2026 for KRW 2 billion (land 85%), a single home lived in for 12 years: the KRW 1,459.09 million house portion has KRW 3,617,342 computed tax after high-value apportionment, and the excess land KRW 118,331,636.
Article 104(5) result
Of the per-asset sum KRW 121,948,978 and the aggregate basic-rate tax KRW 102,292,608, the larger per-asset sum applies, for a total burden of KRW 134,143,876.
Treating the whole as one high-value house would give KRW 24,095,500, a difference of KRW 110,048,376.
In this example, subdividing and selling the excess land a year later reuses the KRW 2.5 million basic deduction and raises the long-term deduction from 24% to 26%, bringing the separate total to KRW 130,821,276 (including a KRW 2 million survey cost), about KRW 3.32 million less.
The gain from subdivision is only a timing effect; the non-business +10 pp itself remains.
Whether the excess part can meet business-use requirements, for example by farming it yourself for several years before the sale, matters more, so check the period test with the non-business land calculator as well.
When to use it
Before selling parents’ country house
Check the excess area and expected tax on a large rural plot and set the price and net proceeds before listing.
Structuring a country-house contract
Compare apportionment results before deciding how land, building and parcel prices are written in the contract.
Deciding on subdivision and surveys
See whether the timing saving exceeds survey and subdivision costs and choose between a single sale and separate sales.
Preparing for an adviser
The TXT sheet summarizes areas, multiplier, apportionment and tax, shortening the meeting and catching input errors early.
Cautions and scope
- Mixed-use houses (shop houses) and multi-unit houses, with their own house-portion tests and land apportionment, are not covered.
Use the dedicated calculators.
- The non-business period test (Decree Article 168-6) and unavoidable-reason exceptions are not evaluated in detail; excess for the whole holding period is assumed.
- If land and building were acquired on different dates (land first, house built later), long-term deductions and short-term tests differ by asset, but one acquisition date is used.
- Temporary two-home and inherited-home special rules, reliefs, unregistered transfers and penalties are not modeled.
- 2027 sales and later sales after subdivision are compared under fixed 2026 rules and the same price.
- Subdivision approval, minimum parcel sizes and survey fees are not assessed; check with the local government and a surveyor.
Frequently asked questions
If I own one home, is the whole yard and garden exempt?
No.
Income Tax Act Article 89(1)3 exempts the house only together with land “within the area obtained by multiplying the building footprint by the regional multiplier”.
Land beyond that area falls outside the exemption even when sold under the same registration and contract, and its tax is computed separately.
Is the footprint the total floor area or the building area?
It is the area on which the building stands, so use the building area (horizontal projection), regardless of the number of floors.
Entering the floor area of a two-storey house inflates the limit, so check the building area on the building register.
If outbuildings such as a storage shed were used as part of the house, confirm with the tax office whether they count.
Is the multiplier based on the zone at acquisition or at sale?
Decree Article 154(7) sets multipliers by the zone of the land being sold, so the zone at the time of sale is generally used.
For public-project purchases or expropriation of land acquired before the project approval notice, the zone on the day before the notice applies.
Check the current zone on the land-use plan certificate first.
Is the excess land always non-business land?
Income Tax Act Article 104-3(1)5 treats attached land beyond the multiplier as non-business land, but the period test in Decree Article 168-6 also applies.
For example, if the excess part was actually farmed by a resident owner, it may be judged as farmland rather than attached land.
The calculator assumes non-business status for the whole holding period by default and lets you select “business-use exception confirmed” when you can prove an exception.
What if the contract does not split land and building values?
When land and buildings are bought or sold together and the split is unclear, values are apportioned considering official standard values (Income Tax Act Article 100(2)).
Even a split written in the contract is treated as unclear and re-apportioned if it differs from the standard-value apportionment by 30% or more (paragraph 3).
Enter the land standard value (official land price × area) divided by the combined land and building standard value as the land share.
The calculator then splits the land portion by area, assuming one price per m² across the plot.
How is the high-value test applied when the price exceeds KRW 1.2 billion?
The parenthetical in Article 89(1)3 tests the combined actual price of the house and its land against KRW 1.2 billion.
The calculator tests the exempt unit, the house plus land within the limit, and warns when adding the excess land would cross KRW 1.2 billion.
If your sale sits on that boundary the tax difference is large, so confirm the test scope with the tax office or an adviser before signing.
Can I avoid the non-business surcharge by subdividing and selling only the excess land?
Not by subdividing alone.
After subdivision the excess land usually remains vacant land and is likely still non-business land, with the same basic rates plus 10 percentage points.
Subdividing only lets you sell in another tax year to reuse the KRW 2.5 million basic deduction, gain more long-term deduction and avoid aggregation with the house portion (Article 104(5)), so weigh that against survey costs.
How do I file the preliminary return?
Even if the house portion is exempt, the excess land is taxable, so a preliminary capital gains return is due within two months after the end of the month of sale.
The return splits one sale into the house portion (exempt) and the excess land portion (taxable); attaching the area and value apportionment makes it easier to explain.
The calculator’s TXT review sheet records the areas, multiplier and apportionment for an adviser meeting.
Official sources, effective versions and items to recheck
Checked on 2026-10-29.
Through the Korean National Law Information OPEN API we queried the Income Tax Act MST280405 (articles effective 2026-01-01, current) and its Enforcement Decree MST290841 (effective 2026-10-01, current) and compared the articles below.
Recheck the zone, building area, parcel areas, land/building value split and actual use of the excess part for every transaction.
Results are whole-KRW budgeting estimates and do not replace a filing or assessment.
Confirm the excess area, then decide the contract structure
If the excess land tax is large, get subdivision and survey quotes to compare with the separate-sale saving, and state land, building and parcel prices clearly in the contract.
A split that differs from the standard-value apportionment by 30% or more is disregarded (Income Tax Act Article 100(3)), so writing a low price for the excess land does not work.
Prepare the exempt house filing and the excess land preliminary return together within two months after the end of the month of sale.
Check whether the excess land is business-use with the non-business land calculator