"Knowing in advance helps avoid tax bombs": 9.3 million scenarios created by a tax expert with 12 years of experience

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When buying or selling real estate or gifting it to children, taxes are a key variable that determines whether and when transactions occur. This is because tax laws and amounts vary depending on the type of property, the number of homes owned per household, and the timing of the transaction. Even if a larger-than-expected tax burden is discovered after the transaction, it is difficult to reverse.

This is also why Kim Dong-hyun, a former tax expert, founded NewAI. In an interview with MoneyToday's startup media platform Unicorn Factory, Kim (CEO) stated, "The biggest problem I encountered on the ground was the complexity of real estate taxes," and added, "I wanted to solve this issue using know-how and technology gained through hands-on experience."

Established in 2021, NewAI provides a tax prediction AI (artificial intelligence) solution called 'TaxAI' that helps users calculate property-related taxes in advance and compare various options. The service covers approximately 15 categories, including capital gains, acquisition, holding, inheritance, gifting, pensions, and refunds. Its core function is to assist decision-making by calculating not only current taxes but also future tax liabilities. NewAI currently has about 300,000 members. Interest in NewAI's services surged significantly after the recently announced tax reform plan signaled upcoming changes to real estate taxation.

NewAI's core competitiveness lies in structuring over a decade of tax expertise accumulated by Kim (CEO), a former tax expert, into millions of scenarios. The company has categorized approximately 200 basic types of real estate transactions. By combining these with household-level housing ownership status and other factors, NewAI has created about 9.3 million virtual tax cases.

These are not based on actual customer data but are defined by realistic conditions that could occur in practice, with applicable tax laws structured for each scenario. The related technology has been registered as a patent and is being utilized for AI training.

As a result, tax reviews that previously took up to a week—when comparing multiple options such as selling, holding, or gifting—can now be completed in about 10 seconds. Kim (CEO) explained, "Tasks that used to take me about a week as a tax expert can now be finished within 10 seconds once entered into the program." He added, "Users can easily compare outcomes across various scenarios, such as whether to sell, continue holding, or gift the property to their children."

Future tax predictions also proactively incorporate government-announced tax reform plans. While current taxes apply only existing laws, future tax simulations include proposed amendments even before they are passed by the National Assembly. To enhance the accuracy of its AI solution, NewAI has invested approximately 700 million won in research and development (R&D) since its establishment, and the system has also undergone verification by external tax firms and experts.

Performance also shows a steep growth curve. Last year's revenue reached 2.4 billion won, a 1,500% increase compared to 1.5 billion won in 2024. Operating profit turned positive at approximately 600 million won. Revenue for the first half of this year was about 1.5 billion won, roughly double the same period last year.

Expanding its customer base from its first B2B client, Jinju Savings Bank, to include Hanaco Card, Woori Bank, Korea Real Estate Board, KB Real Estate, BNK Busan Bank, and Samsung Materials significantly drove performance growth. NewAI's tax service has also been integrated into Samsung Materials' residential living platform 'Home Nick'.

Especially crucial in expanding B2B financial sector clients was being selected for Woori Financial Group's open innovation program 'DeNo Lab' in March last year. This led to a collaboration with Woori Bank, providing real estate tax calculation services to customers of the mobile banking app 'Woori WON Banking' and the asset management brand 'Two Chairs'. Using this collaboration with Woori Bank as a reference, NewAI has since secured partnerships with other financial institutional investors.

This year, the company plans to focus on strengthening its internal development capabilities and enhancing its tax prediction solution. The strategy involves continuously integrating AI technology into existing tax simulations to improve prediction accuracy and service convenience. In the medium to long term, NewAI aims to leapfrog as a representative hub enterprise in Busan. Kim (CEO) stated, "While most fintech companies are concentrated in the capital region, I want to demonstrate that competitive fintech unicorns can also emerge from Busan."

[MoneyToday startup media platform Unicorn Factory]