MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd August, 2020) South Korean tax authorities have launched a probe into 42 foreigners who own multiple homes in the country in a bid to curb bloated housing prices, media reported Monday.
According to state news agency Yonhap, the National Tax Service (NTS) will be looking for speculative rent-pricing practices that contribute to excessively high property prices in the capital city of Seoul.
According to the service, one US national has purchased 42 homes worth more than $5.5 million since 2018 and has underreported rent earnings to escape evade income taxes. Another foreigner, a native of China, has purchased eight homes in the country without reporting any rent income at all.
The agency, reporting NTS data, said that just 1,036 foreigners have purchased more than 23,000 properties in South Korea since 2017. About a third of the homes were not occupied by the owners.
The NTS probe will embark on efforts to stamp out what it called speculative demand which keeps urban property prices artificially high, Yonhap reported.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in has vowed to mobilize the government's resources to fight property speculation and soaring housing prices in the country.
