Inheritance tax is set by deductions, not by the estate — ₩0 up to ₩1B, and more with a surviving spouse

Two families inherit ₩1.5B. One paid ₩87.3M in inheritance tax, the other ₩232.8M. The estate is the same ₩1.5B; the one difference is whether the deceased's spouse was alive. Inheritance tax is not set by the estate. It is set by what and how much is deducted from it. Those deductions do not attach automatically; they open and close with family composition and what is filed. Most people look up the rate table first, but the contest is decided before any rate applies. File without knowing what is deducted and the difference runs to hundreds of millions. The saying 'nothing up to ₩1B' is right under some conditions and wrong under others, and as of 2026-09-05 the estate-tax method applies with the reform proposal not yet passed.

Step ② The spousal deduction is where the two families parted. The amount the spouse actually receives is deducted, with two caps: the statutory share and ₩3B. Even receiving nothing, the minimum is ₩500M, so the ₩500M lump sum plus the ₩500M spousal minimum means no tax up to ₩1B. On ₩1.5B with a spouse and two children, deductions are ₩1B, taxable ₩500M and tax ₩87.3M; without a spouse, deductions ₩500M, taxable ₩1B and ₩232.8M. On ₩2B where the spouse inherits ₩1B, the spousal deduction is a little over ₩857M and the tax ₩128.87M; with nothing to the spouse, ₩232.8M. The same estate splits by over ₩100M. Dividing mainly to the children without knowing this raises the tax due now. But the spouse's share is taxed again at the next inheritance, so look through to that as well.

Step ④ Rates and the filing credit. Progressive on the portion above each step: 10% to ₩100M, 20% to ₩500M, 30% to ₩1B, 40% to ₩3B, 50% above. Filing within six months earns a 3% credit on the computed tax, so ₩87.3M is ₩90M less 3%. Miss the deadline and the 3% vanishes and penalties attach. Above ₩20M, installments of up to ten years are available, covered in the next lecture. Miss the deadline and you lose both the credit and the right to pay in installments.

Your family's inheritance tax comes down to three lines. ① Estate minus debts and funeral costs; ② whether a spouse survives and how many children, since with a spouse there is no tax up to ₩1B and above that it moves with the spouse's share; ③ the financial-asset and co-residence conditions. Rates come after that, so they are not something to fear in advance. What remains is filing within six months, even when no tax is due, because it becomes evidence of the acquisition cost when the property is later sold. With all four steps covered, you can see that the same ₩1.5B split into ₩87.3M and ₩232.8M on the single line of the spouse. Not counting the spouse's share costs over ₩100M, and missing the deadline costs the 3% and the right to installments. Write the four deduction lines from the estate less debts and the family composition, and put the six-month filing deadline on the calendar. Above ₩1B, consult a tax adviser.