'Tax Accountant Act Amendment' Restricting Lawyers' Tax Services Passes Legislation and Judiciary Committee

Tax agency work allowed for lawyers
Bookkeeping agency and sincere report verification restricted

Lee Jong-yeop, President of the Korean Bar Association, is holding a placard and staging a one-person protest in front of the National Assembly on September 24th, opposing the amendment to the Tax Accountant Act.

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The amendment to the Tax Accountant Act, which prohibits lawyers from performing core tax-related tasks, passed the National Assembly's Judiciary Committee on the 9th.

The amendment allows lawyers to handle tax agency work but prohibits them from performing two specific tasks: bookkeeping agency and verification of sincere reporting.

The legal community has opposed this, arguing that these two tasks are essentially the foundation of tax work and that the amendment infringes on their freedom to choose their profession.

When the National Assembly's Strategy and Finance Committee passed this law in July, it was interpreted that the Assembly effectively sided with the tax accountants.

On the day of the Judiciary Committee meeting, People's Power Party members Yoo Sang-beom and Jeon Ju-hye opposed the bill, stating that constitutional issues had not been resolved.

Democratic Party members So Byung-chul, Kim Young-bae, and Park Sung-joon argued that neglecting the legislative gap would be dereliction of duty and advocated for the bill's passage. The bill passed while Yoo Sang-beom and Jeon Ju-hye had left the session.

This bill was reintroduced after being stalled for more than three months. The amendment is expected to be submitted to the plenary session on the 11th.

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