소득 없는 고령자가 종부세 부담?…소득하위 40% 20명 중에 1명뿐

Recent research challenges the common belief that high-income seniors face a heavier burden of property tax. The study, titled 'Asset Inequality and Retained Tax Reform Challenge,' conducted by Korea's National Assembly Research Service, reveals that property tax burdens on low-income seniors are much lower than presumed. Only 4.8% of households with a single-family home exceeding 12 billion won in assessed value, and whose household income falls in the bottom 40% of all households, are subject to the single-family home property tax. This represents only 1 out of every 20 households in this income bracket.

The majority of property tax-paying households are high-income earners. Sixty-two percent of single-family home property tax payers belong to the top 10% in income, while 74.1% are in the top 20%. Despite this, the average income of households with a property tax obligation is just 9.5 million won annually, placing them in the bottom 40% of income distribution.

The average age of these property tax payers is 58.8 years, the same as the average age of single-family home owners. Interestingly, 85.9% of these property tax payers reside in Seoul, with 96.7% of them living in the greater Seoul metropolitan area. The average length of time these households have owned their homes is 10.9 years.

Notably, 46.7% of seniors over 60 years old are receiving property tax relief through deductions, with 79.3% of households with a property tax obligation benefiting from the long-term ownership deduction. An impressive 87.4% of these households receive some form of tax relief, with those receiving the maximum 80% deduction averaging 72.4 years old and an annual income of 7.3 million won, which is still within the top 15% of income earners.