Ministry of Labor Launches Audit on Tax Accountant Exam Amid 'Excessive Pass Controversy'

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] The government has launched an audit regarding this year's tax accountant exam, which sparked controversy due to an excessive number of tax officials passing.

On the 20th, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced that it has begun a special audit on the question setting and grading of this year's tax accountant exam, administered by the Human Resources Development Service of Korea.

Among the second-round passers of this year's tax accountant exam, 151 were 'national tax administration veterans' (tax officials), a significant increase compared to 35 in 2019 and 17 last year. This is because the failure rate for the subject 'Tax Law Part 1,' which tax officials are exempt from, reached 82.13%. Tax officials with over 20 years of service are exempt from the tax law subject among the four subjects in the second round of the tax accountant exam.

Therefore, while general examinees struggled with 'Tax Law Part 1,' tax officials exempt from this subject passed in large numbers. The tax accountant exam requires passing all subjects; failing even one subject results in failure regardless of scores in other subjects. Some examinees have raised concerns about the possibility of manipulation in this exam.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor stated, "We will strictly handle any violations of regulations or negligence detected during the audit," and added, "We will prepare improvement measures and corrective actions for any institutional or operational shortcomings identified through the audit results."

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