Seocho-gu Operates Nation's First Instant SMS Reporting Window for Individual Local Income Tax

'Instant Text Reporting Window' for Individual Local Income Taxpayers to Operate Nationwide for the First Time from February 1... Individual Local Income Tax, Previously Filed with Income Tax at Tax Offices, Changed to Separate Reporting at District Offices from 2020

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] If you have ever missed the payment deadline and incurred a penalty because you only filed income tax at the tax office and failed to separately file the individual local income tax at the district office, try using Seocho-gu’s ‘Immediate Text Filing Window’ service.

Seocho-gu will operate the ‘Immediate Text Filing Window’ from February 1st, the first of its kind nationwide, allowing taxpayers to fill out the individual local income tax return form when visiting the tax office, take a photo with their mobile phone, and send it via text to the district office without visiting in person. This service was introduced to resolve the inconvenience caused by the 2020 revision of the Local Tax Act, which requires taxpayers to file separately at the district office and tax office.

Until now, individual local income tax was filed together with capital gains tax at the tax office, but since the 2020 revision of the Local Tax Act, taxpayers must file separately at the relevant district office, resulting in the need to file at both the tax office and district office.

To minimize taxpayer inconvenience due to this system change, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety allowed electronic filing through Wetax and Etax, and provided individual local income tax filing boxes at tax offices. However, this was not very helpful for internet-vulnerable groups such as the elderly and individuals who urgently needed payment slips.

Moreover, as going out became difficult due to COVID-19, taxpayers who found it hard to file online had to visit the district office in person to receive payment slips since individual local income tax had to be filed separately from 2020.

To actively resolve these inconveniences for taxpayers, Seocho-gu allows taxpayers to take a photo of the individual local income tax return form and send it via text to the ‘Immediate Text Filing Window’ connection number provided at the tax office. The responsible official immediately processes the filing and sends the electronic payment number or a dedicated account number for tax payment to the filer via text.

Using this window eliminates the inconvenience of visiting both the tax office and district office separately for income tax filing, completing the income tax filing at the tax office visit.

The ‘Immediate Text Filing Window’ enables one-stop filing of local taxes at the relevant tax office, allows immediate issuance of payment slips that could otherwise be missed, preventing penalty charges, and provides a convenient filing method for those vulnerable to internet electronic filing.

Lee Deokhaeng, Director of the Local Income Tax Division, said, “The ‘Immediate Text Filing Window’ for individual local income tax has been operated to reduce taxpayer inconvenience by enabling residents to file at once through a one-stop visit and prevent missing payment deadlines.” He added, “We will continue to strive to provide various conveniences for taxpayers.”

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