How to Sell Property in Korea from Abroad: Power of Attorney, Seal Certificates and Non-Resident Tax

Can you sell Korean property from abroad?

In most cases, yes. An owner living overseas can sign a specifically worded power of attorney abroad and have an agent in Korea sign the contract and apply for registration. What has to be signed and certified depends on whether you are still a Korean national. Selling as a non-resident also changes the tax: the single-home exemption generally does not apply, and a preliminary capital gains return is generally due within two months after the end of the month of transfer.

Start with the current real-estate registration certificate, not the family’s memory or a tax notice. It shows the registered owner, each co-owner’s share and any mortgage or other entry a buyer will ask about. A sale of the whole property needs every registered owner to sign, personally or through an authorised agent; a co-owner can sell only their own share without the others.

If the property was inherited and is still registered in the deceased’s name, the heirs must first be established and inheritance registration completed before the property can be transferred. If the register still shows your old resident registration number, a former name or an address from decades ago, allow time to amend the owner’s registered particulars or to assemble the identity documents linking you to the register entry. Each of these steps has its own documents and may add time, so identify them before agreeing a completion date with a buyer.

• Find and verify family-owned land from abroad
• What changes on your Korean title after naturalisation

Who signs, and how: Korean nationals and foreign nationals

You can travel to Korea and sign in person. Otherwise the sale is signed through an agent under a power of attorney that specifically identifies the property, the right being disposed of and the agent; a general or loosely worded form is not accepted for registration (Supreme Court registration directive on overseas Koreans and foreigners, Article 5(1)). For a transfer by the registered owner, that power of attorney must bear the owner’s registered seal and be supported by a seal certificate, or by one of the substitutes the directive allows (Article 5(3)). Which route is available depends on your nationality and registrations. Korean nationals who hold foreign permanent residence, or who live abroad intending to settle there, are “재외국민” for these registry and tax rules (directive, Article 2, item 1; Income Tax Act, Article 108). A Korean national abroad only temporarily, for study or a posting, should confirm with the registry which route applies before signing.

• A 재외국민 with a registered seal signs the power of attorney with that seal and supplies a seal certificate. A separate delegation form, confirmed by the Korean embassy or consulate, lets an agent in Korea obtain the certificate (Enforcement Decree of the Seal Certificate Act, Article 13(1)); the delegation is valid for six months from the date of delegation (Article 13(7)). A seal certificate for selling real estate states the buyer’s details, and for a Korean national abroad the district tax office must also confirm the type and location of the property (Article 13(3), proviso).
• A Korean national abroad who has not registered a seal is not limited to travelling to Korea. A seal can be registered in writing where overseas residence prevents a visit, with a stamped seal sheet, evidence of the reason and a guarantee from an adult who has a registered seal (Seal Certificate Act, Article 7; Enforcement Decree, Article 8). Alternatively, a 재외국민 can have the power of attorney itself notarised at the Korean mission with jurisdiction over the country of stay: the registry then does not require a seal certificate, but the notarisation must be on the power of attorney itself, and an extract from the Register of Korean Nationals Abroad must be submitted for a transfer by the registered owner (directive, Article 9).
• Former Korean nationals and other foreign nationals submit either a Korean seal certificate, available only after alien registration or a domestic residence report and seal registration in Korea, or a seal certificate issued by their own government. Only where neither alien registration nor a residence report has been made, so that no Korean seal certificate can be obtained, and the home country has no seal-certificate system, does the directive accept a substitute: certification by the home-country authorities, or by a notary of the home country or of Korea (including a Korean overseas mission), that the document requiring the seal was prepared according to the signer’s intention. The certification must be on that document itself (Article 12).

• Signing from abroad: seal certificates, notarisation and translations

Consular appointments, apostille and consular confirmation

Consular notarisation generally requires a personal appearance. The Korean consulate in Los Angeles, for example, requires a booked appointment and does not accept applications by post, by e-mail or through a representative. Arrangements differ by mission: in June 2026 Seoul Economic Daily reported that some United States consulates had no appointment for more than a month, while others could see applicants the same or the next day. Check the mission’s current arrangements before you agree a timetable with a buyer.

A document notarised by a local notary, or a certificate issued by a foreign authority, is a foreign public document. Subject to the exceptions in Article 3 of the directive, which include documents issued or notarised by a foreign diplomatic or consular mission and original identity documents, it needs an apostille if it was issued in a state party to the Apostille Convention, or otherwise confirmation by the Korean consul responsible for notarial affairs in that country. A foreign-language document needs a Korean translation bearing the translator’s declaration that it matches the original, the translator’s name and address and signature or seal, with a copy of the translator’s identity document, unless the translation itself is certified (Article 4).

The registry directive governs what the registrar accepts. The buyer’s agent, a bank releasing the proceeds and the tax office may each ask for a particular form. Collect the requirements of every office that will rely on the document before the appointment, so that one signing covers as many of them as possible.

• Seoul Economic Daily, 1 June 2026: overseas owners and consular delays
• Korean consulate in Los Angeles: notarial services (Korean)

Capital gains tax when the seller is a non-resident

Whether you are a non-resident for Korean income tax is decided under Korean tax law, not by your passport. A resident is an individual with a domicile in Korea or a residence there of 183 days or more (Income Tax Act, Article 1-2), and the Enforcement Decree looks at facts such as occupation, family and assets in Korea. Check your status at the statutory transfer date.

A non-resident’s gain on Korean real estate is computed and taxed by the same method as a resident’s (Article 121(2)). Two differences matter most for an owner who has moved abroad: the exemption for a household’s single home and the enhanced long-term holding deduction for a single home do not apply (Article 121(2), proviso; Enforcement Decree, Article 180-2). A home that would be tax-free for a resident can therefore produce a taxable gain when its owner sells after moving abroad.

There is a limited exception. If the whole household left Korea on emigration under the Emigration Act, or because study or work required living abroad for at least a year, and the household owned one home on the departure date, the single-home exemption can still apply to a sale within two years of departure, without the usual minimum holding and residence periods (Enforcement Decree, Articles 154(1), item 2(b)–(c), and 180-2(1), proviso). The exception restores the exemption, not the enhanced long-term holding deduction. Where the price exceeds ₩1.2 billion, the part of the gain attributable to the excess remains taxable (Income Tax Act, Article 89(1), item 3; Enforcement Decree, Article 160).

For inherited property, the acquisition value used to compute the gain is generally the value at the date of death under the inheritance-tax valuation rules, or the value the tax office determined (Enforcement Decree, Article 163(9)). The inheritance-tax valuation therefore affects the later capital gains tax.

A taxpayer with no domicile or residence in Korea is required to appoint a tax manager for national taxes and report the appointment to the district tax office (Framework Act on National Taxes, Article 82(1) and (3)). The Act expressly permits an attorney, a certified tax accountant or a CPA registered for tax work to be appointed (Article 82(2)). Appointment as tax manager is not the same as authority to prepare a tax return; return preparation is a separate engagement with an appropriately authorised tax professional.

• Preliminary return and payment: within two months after the end of the month of the transfer (Income Tax Act, Articles 105(1), item 1, and 106). The return is required even where there is no gain or there is a loss; a wholly exempt sale is a separate case (Article 105(3)). The transfer date is generally the date the balance is paid, but if ownership is registered before the balance is paid it is the date the registration application was received (Article 98; Enforcement Decree, Article 162(1), items 1–2).
• Annual return: 1–31 May of the following year. It is generally unnecessary where a preliminary return was filed, subject to exceptions such as several preliminary returns in one year (Article 110).
• Where to file: for a non-resident without a business place in Korea, the tax office for the place where the income arises, which for real estate is the property’s location (Article 6(2)).
• Local income tax on the gain is reported separately to the local government. Its standard rates are one tenth of the national rates, which a local ordinance may adjust within limits, and its deadlines are the national deadlines plus two months (Local Tax Act, Articles 103-3, 103-5, 103-7, 103-10 and 103-11).
• Surcharges for multiple homes or short holding periods, regional rules and exemptions change frequently. Have the tax calculated for your facts and sale date.
• Your country of residence may also tax the gain. Whether Korean tax is credited there depends on that country’s law and any tax treaty; check before you sign.

• Appointing a Korean tax manager
• Income Tax Act (Korean text)

Registration: the transfer-report confirmation

When a 재외국민 or a foreign national applies to register the transfer of land or a building sold for value, including a gift with an assumed debt, the registry requires the tax office’s confirmation that the transfer has been reported (Income Tax Act, Article 108; directive, Article 8-2). The one exception is a 재외국민 who submits the sale-purpose seal certificate described above, which already carries the tax office’s confirmation. Either way the tax office sees the sale before title moves, so prepare the acquisition records, expenses and residence history together with the sale documents.

Does the buyer withhold tax from the price?

It depends on who the buyer is. An individual buyer, resident or not, has no withholding obligation on the price of Korean real estate (Income Tax Act, Article 156(1)). A company buying from a non-resident individual must withhold national income tax of 10% of the payment or, where the acquisition cost and expenses are confirmed, the lower of that amount and 20% of the gain (Article 156(1), item 5). It must also collect local income tax equal to 10% of the national amount withheld (Local Tax Act, Article 103-18(1)).

Withholding is a prepayment, credited against the tax finally assessed on the gain, which may be higher or lower. It does not apply if the seller shows, in the prescribed way, that the tax on the gain has already been paid or that the gain is exempt or below the taxable threshold (Income Tax Act, Article 156(15)). If the buyer is a company, agree in the contract how and when that evidence will be provided before the balance is paid.

Land-transaction permit zones in 2026

Since 20 October 2025, all 25 districts of Seoul and twelve areas of Gyeonggi Province have been designated as land-transaction permit zones for apartments, and for row houses and multi-family houses in a complex that includes at least one apartment block, until 31 December 2026. Designations are adjusted from time to time, so check the current status of the parcel. In a zone, seller and buyer must apply jointly for a permit, and a contract made without one has no effect (Act on Report on Real Estate Transactions, Article 11(1) and (6)). An overseas seller’s power of attorney should therefore expressly cover the permit application. A buyer permitted to acquire a home for their own residence must generally use it that way for two years from acquisition (Enforcement Decree of the Act on Report on Real Estate Transactions, Article 14(2), item 1). That makes a home with a sitting tenant hard to sell.

A temporary special rule addresses this. For housing covered by item 2 of Article 14-2(2) of the Enforcement Decree, as amended with effect from 1 October 2026, the rule applies where the home was let, or subject to a registered jeonse right, on 1 October 2026; the buyer has been a member of a household owning no home continuously from 12 May 2026 until the permit application; the permit is applied for by 31 December 2027; and the buyer acquires within four months of the permit. The two-year use obligation then starts at the end of the existing lease instead of on acquisition. If the seller renewed the lease with the same tenant for up to two years before the permit application, and the renewal starts before 31 December 2027, it starts at the end of the renewal. If the existing lease ends within four months of the permit, the ordinary rule applies. Registered private-rental apartments fall under item 1, which has different conditions and deadlines.

The rule postpones the buyer’s use obligation; it does not waive it, and it is not limited to non-resident sellers. The temporary rules in Article 14-2 were introduced in February 2026 and amended in April, May and September 2026, so confirm the current position with the district office before marketing a tenanted property. If the price is paid in full before the permit is granted, the preliminary capital gains return runs from the end of the month of the permit date, or of the date the designation is lifted if that comes first (Income Tax Act, Article 105(1), item 1, proviso).

• Policy weekly K-Gonggam: Seoul and Gyeonggi permit-zone designation (Korean)
• Enforcement Decree of the Act on Report on Real Estate Transactions (Korean text, Articles 14 and 14-2)

Sending the proceeds abroad

A non-resident “재외동포” can remit sale proceeds through a designated foreign-exchange bank, up to the amount stated on a sale-funds confirmation (부동산매각자금확인서) or a source-of-funds confirmation issued by the competent district tax office (Foreign Exchange Transaction Regulation, Article 4-4(1), item 8). For this purpose a 재외동포 is an emigrant who has taken foreign nationality, a Korean national with foreign permanent residence or equivalent status, or a person born Korean, or a descendant of one, who no longer holds Korean nationality (Article 1-2, item 29). This rule replaced the former Article 4-7 procedure in February 2025. For other non-residents, including Korean nationals abroad without permanent residence or equivalent status, the route depends on whether the property was acquired in accordance with the foreign-exchange rules: if it was, the bank needs documents proving the acquisition and the sale; in other cases a report to the Bank of Korea is required (Article 9-43).

The tax office will generally look at the tax position on the sale before issuing a confirmation, and the bank applies its own documentary checks. Ask the bank which documents it needs before the balance is paid into a Korean account.

Selling inherited property from abroad

• Decide first whether to inherit at all. Before agreeing a division or a sale, establish who the heirs are and whether the estate is solvent. Disposing of inherited property can be treated as accepting the inheritance outright, debts included, which defeats ordinary renunciation, so address renunciation or limited acceptance before anyone deals with the property. If a disposal has already happened, special limited acceptance may still be available, subject to its knowledge, gross-negligence and timing conditions (Civil Act, Articles 1019(3) and 1026, item 1).
• Then complete inheritance registration, applied for by the heirs or their authorised representative (Real Estate Registration Act, Article 23(3)). If an heir delegates authority to agree an inheritance division, the authorisation must identify the property and the agent and be supported by a seal certificate or a permitted substitute (directive, Article 6). Acquisition tax on the inheritance and any tax consequences of reallocating shares or sale proceeds between heirs need separate advice.
• Inheritance tax has its own return: within six months after the end of the month of death, or nine months where the deceased or an heir has an address abroad, which the National Tax Service applies where at least one heir is domiciled abroad (Inheritance and Gift Tax Act, Article 67(1) and (4)).
• A sale does not remove property-tax liability fixed on 1 June, and the notice may arrive after the sale. Arrange for someone to receive the notice and pay the tax. While inheritance registration is incomplete and no de facto owner has been reported, the taxpayer is the principal heir determined under ministerial rule (Local Tax Act, Article 107(2), item 2).

• Inherited debt in Korea: renouncing or limiting an inheritance from abroad
• Korean property-tax notices while living overseas
• National Tax Service: inheritance-tax filing deadlines (Korean)

Frequently asked questions

How the initial review works

• Send a short description, your current country and time zone, and any deadline. Please wait for document-transfer instructions before sending identity documents.
• The attorney checks the requested scope and any conflict of interest, then proposes the review, fee and expected delivery date by email. A video consultation in English can be arranged by appointment.
• The agreed initial review includes an English summary of the issues, missing documents and recommended next steps. Depending on the scope, it may also include a document checklist or a list of steps to take with each authority.
• Fees depend on the records and questions to be reviewed. Any filing, translation, certification, government charges or continuing work is identified separately in the proposal. Sending an inquiry does not start a paid engagement.

What this office can do

A legal review in English can compare the register with your current identity documents, identify the signing and certification route that fits your nationality and registrations, list what the registry, the tax office and the bank will need, and set out the order of steps and their deadlines. Acting as your agent for the contract and registration, coordinating the consular signing and acting as your tax manager for national taxes can be arranged under a separate engagement.

Tax calculation and the preparation of capital gains returns require a separately agreed engagement with an appropriately authorised tax professional; the review identifies the tax questions and deadlines and can coordinate with your adviser. Brokerage and valuation are not provided.

If you decide to keep the property for now, the annual tax manager service receives local property-tax notices and confirms payment for you.

This guide states the law in force on 1 October 2026, including amendments that took effect that day. Permit-zone rules, foreign-exchange rules and consular practice change; confirm the current requirements before signing.

• Legal support for overseas owners
• Annual property tax manager — USD 600/year
• Appointing a Korean tax manager
• About your Korean attorney