Korean Registration & License Tax Calculator
Works out the registration and license tax, plus the local education surtax, on registering a mortgage, a jeonse right or an inheritance.
For a mortgage, the base is the maximum secured amount
Type of registration
The base is the maximum secured amount, not the loan. Banks typically set it at 120% of the loan. The ₩120M you entered corresponds to a loan of about ₩100M. The actual ratio varies by bank and product.
Result
Registration and license tax
₩240,000
Secured amount × 0.2%
Local education surtax
₩48,000
20% of the registration tax
Total
₩288,000
paid together with the registration
| Secured amount | ₩120M |
|---|---|
| Registration and license tax (0.2%) | ₩240,000 |
| Local education surtax (20%) | ₩48,000 |
| Total | ₩288,000 |
Based on 제28조제1항제1호다목2). Registrations that create new ownership attract acquisition tax; registrations that are not of ownership (mortgages, jeonse rights and the like) attract registration and license tax. Buying a home with a loan means paying both. A transfer of ownership for payment is folded into acquisition tax and carries no separate registration tax. Filing fees and the scrivener's fee are covered in the registration cost calculator.
How this works
What it calculates
Every entry you make in the Korean property register carries a local tax called registration and licence tax. When you buy a home and take title, you pay acquisition tax instead, but any registration that does not create new ownership is taxed this way. Registering a mortgage in the bank's favour when you borrow, registering a jeonse right, the first-ever registration of a newly built building, and transfers by inheritance or gift all fall here.
Choose the kind of registration, enter the amount that forms the tax base, and the calculator shows the registration and licence tax, the local education tax that rides on it, and the total. Each kind has its own rate and its own idea of what the base amount is, so picking the right kind is half the work.
Who uses it and when
Home buyers taking out a mortgage use it most. On the drawdown date the bank bills you for registering the mortgage, and that bill bundles the tax, the local education tax and the scrivener's fee. Knowing the tax component tells you at once what the rest is.
It also serves tenants who want a jeonse right registered, heirs transferring an inherited home into their own name, and children receiving a home as a gift from a parent. A gift triggers both acquisition tax and this tax, so the budget has to include the two together.
Legal basis and how the maths runs
The rates are set by kind of registration in 지방세법 제28조제1항제1호. Creating a mortgage, jeonse right, leasehold or superficies is taxed at 0.2% of the amount of that right, meaning the secured claim, the jeonse deposit or the lease deposit. First registration of ownership is 0.8% of the property value, and a transfer by inheritance is also 0.8%. Gifts and other transfers without payment carry the highest rate, 1.5%.
Once the registration and licence tax is known, 지방세법 제151조제1항제2호 adds local education tax at 20% of that amount. In practice, multiply the rate by 1.2 to see the real burden. The sequence is: tax base times the rate gives the registration and licence tax; that times 20% gives the local education tax; the two are added.
For a mortgage the point to watch is that the base is not the loan but the maximum secured amount. Banks set this above the loan to cover interest and arrears, customarily around 120% of the principal. That ratio is a market habit rather than a legal rule and varies between lenders, so enter the figure in the mortgage agreement itself.
A worked example
Suppose you borrow ₩100 million to buy a home and the bank sets the maximum secured amount at 120%, or ₩120 million. Registration and licence tax is 0.2% of ₩120 million, which is ₩240,000, and local education tax at 20% of that is ₩48,000. The tax on registering the mortgage is ₩288,000. If the bank's bill is higher, the difference is the scrivener's fee and registry charges.
If a parent gifts a ₩300 million home to a child, the transfer is taxed at 1.5%: ₩4,500,000 in registration and licence tax plus ₩900,000 in local education tax, ₩5,400,000 in all. Had the same home passed by inheritance, the 0.8% rate would cut that by roughly half. Anyone weighing a gift who looks only at acquisition tax and forgets this one will find the budget short.
Common mistakes
The most common is working out the mortgage tax on the loan amount. The maximum secured amount is larger, so the tax is larger too. The second is treating acquisition tax and this tax as one and the same and budgeting for only one of them. Buy with a mortgage and you pay acquisition tax plus this tax on the mortgage; receive a gift and you pay gift acquisition tax plus this tax on the transfer.
The third is picking the wrong kind. A jeonse right and a leasehold share a rate, but first registration and a gift transfer are very different. This calculator covers only registration and licence tax on real estate entries, not the version charged on company registrations or licences. And a transfer for value, which attracts acquisition tax, belongs in the acquisition tax calculator rather than here.
Rates by type of registration
| Type of registration | Tax base | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Mortgage registration | Secured amount | 0.2% |
| Jeonse right registration | Jeonse deposit | 0.2% |
| Leasehold right registration | Monthly lease amount | 0.2% |
| Superficies registration | Property value | 0.2% |
| Initial ownership registration | Property value | 0.8% |
| Transfer of ownership on inheritance | Property value | 0.8% |
| Transfer of ownership without payment (gift) | Property value | 1.5% |
Based on 지방세법 제28조제1항제1호. The local education surtax is 20% of the registration tax (제151조제1항제2호). A transfer of ownership for payment is folded into acquisition tax and carries no separate registration tax.
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Common questions
- What is the difference between acquisition tax and registration tax?
- Registrations that create new ownership attract acquisition tax. Registrations that are not of ownership (mortgages, jeonse rights, superficies) attract registration and license tax. Buying a home with a loan means paying both.
- What does registering a mortgage cost?
- 0.2% of the secured amount, plus a 20% local education surtax on that, giving an effective 0.24%. On a ₩100M loan with the maximum secured amount set at 120% (₩120M), that is ₩288,000.
- Why the maximum secured amount rather than the loan?
- Because the tax base for a mortgage registration is the secured amount. Banks set it above the loan to cover interest and default damages, and it is the figure entered on the register that governs.
- Is registering a jeonse right taxed?
- 0.2% of the jeonse deposit. A fixed date stamp costs almost nothing, whereas registering a jeonse right carries this tax plus registration costs. In return, the right appears on the register and stands on its own.
- Is it payable on a gift?
- A transfer of ownership without payment is 1.5% of the property value, and inheritance is 0.8%. A gift also attracts acquisition tax separately, so use the gift acquisition tax calculator alongside this.
- Is it the same for a foreign registrant?
- The rates are identical. Without a resident registration number you must first obtain a property registration number, and in place of a registered seal certificate a signature verification from your home country's authorities or a notary is commonly used. Where a loan is registered at the same time, the bank's appointed scrivener usually handles it.
Work out the whole registration cost (acquisition tax, bond and scrivener)
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