Korea Customs Service Temporarily Expands Companies Eligible for 'Customs Investigation Suspension'

Provided by Korea Customs Service

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Korea Customs Service announced on the 4th that it will significantly expand the scope of companies eligible for temporary exemption from customs investigations to support businesses facing operational difficulties due to COVID-19.

The customs investigation exemption is a system designed to help companies focus on their business activities by relieving them from the burden of customs investigations. Typically, companies without suspicion of tax evasion are exempted from customs investigations for one year.

This year, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) whose sales in the previous year decreased by more than 20% compared to 2019, or companies that maintain or create jobs, are included in the customs investigation exemption target and can apply for it.

Eligible companies can apply from the 6th to the 31st of this month through the Korea Customs Service website or by mail. Once designated as a final customs investigation exemption company, they will not be subject to customs investigations until June of next year.

In particular, the Korea Customs Service has decided to proactively exempt customs investigations for SMEs that have confirmed a decrease of more than 20% in exports and imports compared to 2019, as well as SMEs established after 2019, without requiring a separate application.

Additionally, companies designated as Job Excellence Companies by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and innovative SMEs designated by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups will also be exempt from customs investigations.

A Korea Customs Service official stated, “We are expanding the scope of companies eligible for customs investigation exemption to support overcoming the COVID-19 crisis,” adding, “For companies not included in the target, we plan to actively consider their difficult business conditions to ensure customs investigations are conducted appropriately.”

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