Unable to Pay Taxes Due to COVID-19 Shock... National Tax Payment Deferral Soars 28 Times Compared to Last Year

5.78 Million Tax Deferrals Until June... 34.3 Times Extension Compared to Last Year
Collection Deferrals 14.2 Times, Delinquent Disposition Deferrals 50.5 Times

On the 10th, unemployment benefit applicants are receiving explanations from officials at the Seoul Employment Welfare Plus Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] It has been revealed that the number of cases delaying tax payments due to economic crises caused by the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) has surged sharply.

According to data submitted by the National Tax Service to Yang Kyungsuk, a member of the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, the total number of tax deferral cases, including deadline extensions, collection deferrals, and delinquency disposition deferrals, reached 5,789,157 by June this year, which is 28.1 times the 206,054 cases during the same period last year. The amount of deferred taxes also reached 23.1213 trillion won by June, 6.6 times the 3.5232 trillion won recorded in the same period last year.

Specifically, deadline extensions amounted to 4,109,210 cases by June this year, 34.3 times that of the same period last year; collection deferrals were 1,045,685 cases, 14.2 times; and delinquency disposition deferrals were 634,262 cases, 50.5 times. In terms of amounts, deadline extensions totaled 18.7624 trillion won, 8.7 times last year's figure; collection deferrals were 3.7385 trillion won, 3.1 times; and delinquency disposition deferrals were 620.5 billion won, 4.2 times.

Tax deferral is a system that allows taxpayers who have difficulty paying taxes due to business crises or disasters to postpone tax payments for up to nine months under certain collateral conditions. Deadline extension refers to extending the payment deadline for self-reported national taxes, collection deferral refers to extending the payment deadline for national taxes for which a notice has been issued, and delinquency disposition deferral refers to temporarily postponing property seizure or sale.

Regarding this, Representative Yang Kyungsuk stated, "The significant increase in the number and amount of tax deferrals this year indicates that many people are experiencing economic difficulties due to COVID-19," adding, "In this unprecedented COVID-19 crisis, we must carefully examine measures to help citizens and businesses quickly overcome the damage."

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