Non-Resident Capital Gains Tax Calculator

This calculator works out the capital gains tax a non-resident pays on selling a house or land in Korea. Becoming a non-resident for tax purposes does not put you on a different rate table. 소득세법 제121조제2항 says gains on Korean real estate are computed for non-residents the same way as for residents. What changes is that two benefits residents enjoy fall away: the one-household-one-home exemption and table 2 of the long-term holding deduction. Enter the sale price, acquisition price, expenses and holding period to see the tax as a non-resident, next to what a one-home resident would have paid on the same property, so that the cost of non-resident status is visible as a single figure.

It also computes the amount the buyer withholds from the purchase price. Anyone paying a non-resident for real estate must withhold tax under 소득세법 제156조 and pay it over, so the seller receives that much less at closing. How much is withheld depends heavily on whether the acquisition cost can be proven, and that difference is shown too.

It is for people who have emigrated, or are abroad for work or study for an extended period, and want to sell a home in Korea. A home that would have been exempt as a one-household-one-home sale before departure becomes fully taxable afterwards, so the timing of the sale can swing the tax by hundreds of millions of won. If you are about to leave, the calculator lets you compare selling before departure, selling within 2 years of leaving, or simply keeping the property.

Buyers purchasing from a non-resident need it as well. The withholding obligation sits with the buyer who pays the price, and a buyer who fails to withhold is liable. Knowing the figure at the contract stage avoids a dispute on closing day.

The order of calculation matches a resident's capital gains tax. Sale price less acquisition price and necessary expenses gives the gain. If the property was held for three years or more, the long-term holding deduction under table 1 of 소득세법 제95조제2항 comes off. A non-resident cannot use table 2, whose rate climbs with both holding and residence years, and is limited to table 1. Subtracting the annual capital gains deduction of ₩2.5 million gives the tax base, the basic rates in 제55조제1항 are applied, the progressive deduction is subtracted, and local income tax of 10% is added on top.

There is one exception. If the whole household left Korea under the emigration law, or for study or work requiring at least a year abroad, the household owned one home on the departure date, and the home is sold within 2 years of departure, the exemption still applies (시행령 제154조제1항제2호 나목·다목), and the holding and residence conditions are waived. Withholding is governed by 제156조제1항제5호. The default is 10% of the amount paid; where the acquisition cost and selling expenses are verified, it is the lower of 10% of the price and 20% of the gain. If the seller has already filed and paid, that tax is deducted from the withholding.

Take the calculator's defaults. A home bought ten years ago for ₩800 million is sold for ₩1.5 billion with ₩20 million of expenses, giving a gain of ₩680 million. Table 1 gives 20% after ten years, so ₩136 million comes off, then the ₩2.5 million annual deduction, leaving a tax base of ₩541.5 million. That falls in the 42% band: capital gains tax of ₩191,490,000 plus local income tax of ₩19,149,000, ₩210,639,000 in all.

Had a one-home resident with ten years of residence sold the same house, only the gain attributable to the part of the price above ₩1.2 billion would be taxed, table 2 would give a 80% deduction, and the tax would be ₩2,689,500. Non-resident status alone costs ₩207,949,500. As for withholding, with the acquisition cost proven the buyer withholds the lower of 10% of the price (₩150 million) and 20% of the gain (₩136 million), so ₩136 million; without proof it is ₩150 million. Either way this is less than the final tax, and the balance is paid on filing.

The first is believing non-residents pay a higher rate. The rates are identical. The tax is larger because the exemption and table 2 are gone, which makes the tax base itself far bigger. The second is missing the 2-year window after departure. Caught up in the move, people let the deadline pass and the exemption disappears entirely. The whole household must have left, and there must have been just one home on the departure date.

The third is failing to keep acquisition documents and so being withheld 10% of the price. That method is charged on the sale amount, not the gain, so it bites even on a loss-making sale. Have the purchase contract and expense receipts ready. The fourth is treating withholding as the end of the matter. It is a prepayment; the final tax is settled on filing, with a top-up if too little was withheld and a refund if too much. Residents of a country with a tax treaty may find the treaty overrides these rules, and the multiple-home surcharge is not included in this calculation.