The presidential office called for overhauling or practically abolishing the contested comprehensive real estate holding tax levied on owners of high-priced homes or multiple housing units.

Appearing on a KBS program on Sunday, Director of National Policy Sung Tae-yoon said it would be advisable to scrap the tax system and absorb it into existing property taxes if necessary.

Sung assessed the insignificance of the tax system's stabilizing effect on housing prices while noting that it significantly increases the tax burden for owners of low-priced multiple homes for the rental supply.

The top policy aide, however, called to keep the tax for owners of super-priced single homes or others with a total value of multiple housing units exceeding a certain amount, as an all-out abolishment could lead to tax revenue issues.

Currently, the tax is imposed on owners of a single home with a government-assessed value exceeding one-point-one billion won, or around 792-thousand U.S. dollars, or those with multiple units with a combined appraisal value exceeding 600 million won.

Sung also talked about revamping the inheritance tax system, citing double taxation and suggesting lowering the tax rate from the current maximum of 60 percent to about 30 percent, which is in line with the estimated OECD average of around 26-point-one percent.