National Tax Service Commissioner Visits Hand Sanitizer Manufacturers: "Do Your Best to Ensure Supply"

"Support for Diligent Taxpayers Including Future Recommendations as Model Taxpayers and Tax Audit Deferrals"

Kim Hyun-joon, Commissioner of the National Tax Service (left), is visiting Korea Alcohol Industry, a distillery located in Ulsan, on the 11th to tour the manufacturing process.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] On the 11th, Kim Hyun-joon, Commissioner of the National Tax Service, visited Korea Alcohol Industry, a ethanol production company located in Ulsan, and Everaid, a hand sanitizer manufacturer located in Yangsan, Gyeongnam, to support the smooth supply of hand sanitizers and disinfectant alcohol. He listened to on-site opinions regarding difficulties and inspected the supply status and distribution channels.

During his visit to Korea Alcohol Industry, Commissioner Kim held a meeting with executives and employees and requested, "Please maintain the production volume at the maximum possible level to ensure there is no disruption in the supply of ethanol, the main raw material for hand sanitizers and disinfectant alcohol."

At the Everaid site, he inquired whether there were any difficulties in raw material procurement or production due to the sudden increase in demand for hand sanitizers and said, "The National Tax Service will also provide maximum support to ensure there are no difficulties in raw material supply."

He added, "I ask for active cooperation to ensure the stable supply of hand sanitizers so that anyone can easily purchase hand sanitizers and prevent infection from the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19)."

He also stated, "To overcome the emergency situation, we will recommend sincere taxpayers who strive and produce and distribute products normally as exemplary taxpayers or beautiful taxpayers in the future and provide maximum support such as deferral of tax audits."

If selected as an exemplary taxpayer or beautiful taxpayer, benefits such as deferral of tax audits (3 years for awards from the National Tax Service Commissioner or higher, 2 years for awards from local tax offices), exemption from tax payment guarantees (up to 500 million KRW annually), preferential treatment at airport immigration, preferential interest rates from affiliated financial institutions, and free use of public parking lots will be provided.

The National Tax Service plans to actively implement necessary tax support measures in the fields of hand sanitizers and disinfectant alcohol, similar to masks, while closely inspecting the occurrence of distribution disorder acts such as hoarding and undocumented transactions during manufacturing and distribution processes. If violations are found, they will notify relevant agencies to actively support the smooth supply of quarantine medical supplies.

Meanwhile, under the Liquor Tax Act, ethanol, the raw material for liquor, is defined as "ethyl alcohol that can be diluted to make beverages" and is classified according to its use into liquor use (e.g., diluted soju production), food use (e.g., vinegar, seasoning, cooking wine production), and industrial use (e.g., medical supplies, cosmetics production). Hand sanitizers are manufactured by adding purified water and glycerin to ethanol.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.