Gyeonggi-do Detects 1,473 Tax Evaders with Annual Salaries Over 100 Million Won

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] High-income professionals such as fund managers, medical practitioners, and public officials who received annual salaries in the hundreds of millions of won but still defaulted on taxes were massively caught in an investigation conducted by Gyeonggi Province.

Gyeonggi Province announced on the 19th that from February to April, it conducted a full survey of over 80,000 people who had tax arrears of 500,000 won or more, identifying 1,473 high-income defaulters with annual salaries exceeding 100 million won, and collected 900 million won in overdue taxes from 877 of them (59.5%).

The remaining 596 negligent defaulters (40.5%) are under special management, and wage garnishment is being carried out sequentially.

This investigation was conducted by dividing subjects into six occupational groups: medical, legal, financial, large corporations, public/education, and public officials. In particular, the public official group was investigated for tax delinquency regardless of salary.

The results revealed 172 from the medical sector, 111 from finance, 53 from law, 528 from large corporations, 201 from public/education, and 408 public officials, totaling 1,473 individuals caught.

The total amount of their tax arrears reached 2.1 billion won.

Mr. A, living in Namyangju, operates a hospital in Seoul with a declared income exceeding 700 million won annually but defaulted on about 20 million won in local income tax and other taxes since 2018, refusing voluntary payment and consequently having his wages garnished.

Mr. B, who failed to pay 5 million won in property tax last year, delayed payment repeatedly citing financial difficulties despite continuous payment demands, but upon being identified as a fund manager earning over 500 million won annually in this investigation, he finally paid his taxes.

Mr. C, a public official at a certain city hall earning 80 million won annually, delayed tax payments until his arrears reached 14 million won but paid voluntarily within the deadline after being caught in this investigation.

Additionally, company executive Mr. D, earning 170 million won annually, failed to pay 16 million won in taxes, and lawyer Mr. E, with an annual salary of 100 million won, had been in arrears of 3 million won but paid taxes once the investigation was underway.

Lee Ui-hwan, head of the Tax Justice Division of the province, emphasized, "Many of the defaulters caught this time were typical chronic defaulters with weak tax awareness," adding, "We will pursue collection to the end to foster a culture of sincere tax payment."

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