Owning a car in Korea comes with two kinds of tax. You pay acquisition tax once, when the car is registered in your name, and car tax every year after that. The rules are the same for foreign residents as for Koreans.
This guide covers how each one is worked out, the breaks for light cars and electric cars, the bonds you may have to buy at registration, and when the bills arrive. In Korean, acquisition tax is 취득세 and the yearly car tax is 자동차세.
How we checked
The rates, formulas and deadlines come from the Local Tax Act (지방세법) and its Enforcement Decree, in the versions in force on October 25, 2026. The breaks for light cars and electric cars come from the Restriction of Special Local Taxation Act (지방세특례제한법).
We cross-checked the yearly tax against the Seoul city government’s car tax guide, and took the bond rules from a Suwon city page on Gyeonggi Province’s ordinance. We didn’t use dealer sites, cost calculators or forums.
The short answer
- When you register: acquisition tax of 7% for a private passenger car, or 4% for a light car (경차).
- Breaks: light cars get up to ₩750,000 off until the end of 2027, and electric cars up to ₩1.4 million off until the end of 2026.
- Bonds: your city or province may require you to buy local bonds at registration. The rules differ by region.
- Every year: car tax based on engine size, plus a 30% local education tax on top. Electric cars pay a flat ₩100,000 before that 30%.
- Older cars: the yearly tax falls 5% a year from the third year, down to half.
- Paying: bills come in June and December, and paying the whole year early gets a small discount.
When you register: acquisition tax
Article 12 of the Local Tax Act sets the rate for cars. A private (non-commercial) passenger car pays 7% of its taxable value. A light car pays 4%. Unlike some property purchases, a car purchase doesn’t add local education tax on top of this.
What the 7% is charged on. Article 10-5 sets the taxable value. When you buy a car, it’s the price you actually paid. VAT isn’t included, under Article 18 of the Enforcement Decree.
There’s also a floor, which matters most for used cars. If the price you report is lower than the government’s standard value for that car (시가표준액), or you don’t report one, the tax uses the standard value instead. A car received as a gift is always taxed on the standard value.
| Example (our calculation) | Rate | Acquisition tax |
|---|---|---|
| Used passenger car, ₩10 million price, above the standard value | 7% | ₩700,000 |
| Light car, ₩15 million before VAT | 4% (₩600,000), then the light car break | ₩0 until the end of 2027 |
| Light car, ₩20 million before VAT | 4% (₩800,000), minus ₩750,000 | ₩50,000 until the end of 2027 |
| Electric car, ₩40 million before VAT | 7% (₩2.8 million), minus ₩1.4 million | ₩1.4 million until the end of 2026 |
When it’s due. Article 20 gives you 60 days from the purchase to report and pay. If you register the car before then, you must pay by the time you file the registration. Since a used car transfer has to be filed within 15 days, in practice you pay when you register.
Our guide to buying a used car in Korea covers that transfer step by step. If you file online through Car365, the acquisition tax and bonds are paid through the virtual account it gives you.
Breaks for light cars and electric cars
These breaks come from the Restriction of Special Local Taxation Act, and each has an end date written into the law. Check that the date hasn’t passed before you count on one.
| Car | Break on acquisition tax | Until |
|---|---|---|
| Light car (경차), private passenger use | No tax if it comes to ₩750,000 or less, otherwise ₩750,000 off | December 31, 2027 |
| Electric car on the government’s eco-friendly vehicle list | No tax if it comes to ₩1.4 million or less, otherwise ₩1.4 million off | December 31, 2026 |
| Hydrogen fuel cell car on the same list | No tax if it comes to ₩1.4 million or less, otherwise ₩1.4 million off | December 31, 2027 |
If a light car that got the break is used for commercial purposes within a year, the tax is collected again. The hybrid car break ended on December 31, 2024. Your local tax office can confirm whether a specific car qualifies.
Bonds at registration
Registering a car can also mean buying local government bonds, called 공채. Each city or province sets the rules in its own ordinance, so who has to buy them, and how much, depends on where the car is registered.
As one example, a Suwon city page on Gyeonggi Province’s ordinance says that under the version in force since July 1, 2026, private passenger cars of 1,600cc or less are exempt. So are electric, solar and hydrogen fuel cell cars, while hybrids have had to buy bonds since that date. Other regions can differ, so ask your vehicle registration office before you go.
Every year: the car tax
Car tax is charged to whoever owns the car on June 1 and December 1, though a sale splits it by days, as explained below. For a private passenger car, Article 127 multiplies the engine size by a rate per cc.
| Private passenger car | Tax per cc a year | Example (our calculation) |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 1,000cc | ₩80 | 998cc: ₩79,840 |
| 1,001 to 1,600cc | ₩140 | 1,598cc: ₩223,720 |
| Over 1,600cc | ₩200 | 1,999cc: ₩399,800 |
| Electric car | Flat ₩100,000 | ₩100,000 |
The 30% on top. Article 151 adds local education tax (지방교육세) of 30% of the car tax for private passenger cars. A 1,999cc car comes to ₩519,740 a year in total, and an electric car to ₩130,000.
The flat rate covers cars that run on electricity, solar power or alcohol, under Article 123 of the Enforcement Decree. Hybrids aren’t on that list, so they’re taxed by engine size. For a hydrogen car, ask your local tax office which rate applies. Commercial, van and truck rates are different, and this guide doesn’t cover them.
How the car’s age lowers it
For private passenger cars taxed by engine size, the tax drops as the car gets older. From the third year, each half-year bill is cut by 5% for every year past the second, up to the 12th year. A car 12 years or older pays half.
The car’s age starts from its first registration date, if it was registered in the year it was made. Otherwise it starts from December 31 of the year it was made. A car whose age starts in January to June is in its first year that year, its second the next, and so on. One that starts from July to December moves up a year in the second half.
For example, a 2,000cc car first registered in March 2022 is in its fifth year in 2026. Its ₩400,000 base tax falls by 15% to ₩340,000, or ₩442,000 with the 30% added. The flat ₩100,000 for electric cars doesn’t get this reduction.
Use the estimator below to work out a year’s car tax for your own car.
Yearly car tax estimator
Source: Local Tax Act Articles 127, 128 and 151, and Enforcement Decree Articles 122 and 123. Last checked: October 25, 2026. Uses the rates in force in 2026, for private (non-commercial) passenger cars only. If the car was registered in a later year than it was made, its age starts on December 31 of the year it was made, so enter that year and choose July to December. The result is our calculation for a full year of ownership, rounded down to the won, so your bill may differ slightly. Your local tax office sets the actual amount.
Paying it: June, December or all at once
Article 128 splits the year into two bills. The first covers January to June and is due June 16 to 30. The second covers July to December and is due December 16 to 31. If the whole year's tax is ₩100,000 or less, it's usually billed once, in June.
Paying the year early. You can pay the whole year at once in one of four windows: January 16 to 31, March 16 to 31, June 16 to 30 or September 16 to 30. Under Article 128 of the Act, the discount is 5% of the part of the year you're paying ahead for, at the rate set in Article 125 of the Enforcement Decree.
So paying in January saves the most. By our calculation, that comes to about 4.6% of the year's tax, falling to about 3.8% in March, 2.5% in June and 1.3% in September. The Seoul city guide notes the rate was 10% until 2022 and 7% in 2023, so older advice may quote higher figures.
Wetax (위택스, wetax.go.kr), the national local tax site, handles local tax payments and is in Korean. Your city, county or district office also takes the early-payment application.
Buying or selling mid-year
When a car changes hands, Article 130 splits that period's car tax between seller and buyer by days of ownership. The split uses the date the ownership transfer is registered. If the seller already paid the whole year in advance, it counts as paid by the buyer, as long as the seller agrees.
A newly registered car is also taxed for the days left in that half-year. Any amount under ₩2,000 isn't collected.
If you don't pay
Under Article 131, a local government can refuse to issue the car's registration certificate or impound its license plates when car tax goes unpaid. The Seoul city guide adds that late-payment charges and seizure of property can follow.
If you move within Korea, keep your address on the registration up to date so the bills reach you.
Before you register
- Work out the acquisition tax at 7%, or 4% for a light car, on the price before VAT.
- For a light car or electric car, check that the break's end date hasn't passed.
- Ask your registration office whether you'll need to buy bonds, and roughly how much.
- Have insurance in your name before the car moves. Our guide to car insurance in Korea for foreigners covers what the law requires.
- Put mid-January in your calendar if you want the early-payment discount.
Rates and breaks change, and your local tax office decides the amount in your case. Ask them, or the vehicle registration office, before you buy.
Last checked: October 25, 2026. Sources: Local Tax Act, Articles 10-5, 12, 20, 127, 128, 130, 131, 150 and 151 (Korean Law Information Center, in Korean); Enforcement Decree of the Local Tax Act, Articles 18, 122, 123 and 125 (in Korean); Restriction of Special Local Taxation Act, Articles 66 and 67 (in Korean); Enforcement Decree of the Motor Vehicle Management Act, Article 3 (in Korean); Seoul Metropolitan Government car tax guide (in Korean); Suwon city page on regional development bond exemptions (in Korean); Wetax (in Korean).
