Taxing the Inequality One Lives in: Homeownership and the Fiscal Politics of Asset Inequality in South Korea

ABSTRACT

Housing wealth has become a central site of inequality, security, and political conflict in contemporary capitalism. Yet citizens who perceive large asset inequality do not necessarily support increasing taxes on property and capital income. This article examines this puzzle in South Korea, where homeownership is deeply tied to household security, family strategy, and expectations of social mobility. It argues that homeownership may create a fiscal dilemma: homeowners may recognize asset inequality as unfair while remaining more cautious about taxation that may affect an asset base on which their own security depends. Using survey data from the 2021 Inequality and Fairness Survey, this study examines whether perceived asset inequality is associated with support for increasing taxes on property and capital income, and whether this association is weaker among homeowners. The findings show that perceived asset inequality is positively associated with support for increasing taxes on property and capital income, but this association is significantly attenuated among homeowners. This pattern remains after accounting for additional socioeconomic and political characteristics, although the cross‐sectional data cannot establish a causal effect of homeownership or identify the underlying mechanism. The article contributes to political economy debates on housing, inequality, and tax politics by showing that homeownership conditions the association between perceived asset inequality and property and capital‐income tax support.