Receiving Property as a Gift?

Registering a gifted property follows the same core registration mechanics as a purchase, but with its own tax filing (gift tax rather than acquisition tax on a sale price) and its own appraisal-timing rule if you're using an appraised value for tax purposes.

Core documents

A gift-based ownership transfer registration generally needs: the gift contract (증여계약서), the donor's seal certificate and the recipient's ID/address documents, a real-estate transaction/gift report where applicable, the land or building register transcript, and the acquisition-tax/registration-fee payment receipts — the same filing-order convention used for any registration application (see our property purchase registration guide for the full document sequence).

Farmland being gifted? A Farmland Acquisition Qualification Certificate (농지취득자격증명, 농취증) is required before the registration can be filed, same as for a purchase — see the farmland section of our purchase-registration guide for the application process, including the mail-in option and how an abandoned plot or unauthorized structure is handled.

Appraisal timing for tax valuation — a gift has its own window

If you're using a professional appraisal to establish the tax-recognized market value (시가인정액) of the gifted property, the appraisal's valuation date and its issuance date must both fall within 6 months before, and 3 months after, the date of the gift. This window is different from the inheritance rule (6 months before or after the date of death) — using an appraisal outside this window means it won't be recognized as the market value for gift-tax purposes, which can materially change the tax owed.

Foreign nationals and overseas Koreans face the same seal/address hurdles as a purchase

The recipient (and, for the donor's side, the person transferring the property) still needs a valid seal certificate or its consular-notarization substitute, and address-proof documents appropriate to their status (재외국민, 외국인, or 외국국적동포) — these follow the exact same rules as a property purchase. See our overseas residents guide for the full breakdown of who qualifies as which category and what each can submit in place of a domestic seal certificate or resident registration.

Gift tax basics

Gift tax in Korea is generally the recipient's liability, calculated on the gifted asset's market value (or the recognized appraisal value within the window above) minus any applicable deduction, at progressive rates. Because valuation method and timing directly affect the tax bill — and because a family gift between relatives carries its own deduction thresholds — it's worth confirming the numbers with a tax professional before finalizing the gift contract, not after the registration is already filed.