Seoul City Suspends Tax Collection on 1,117 Unproductive Seized Properties... 188 Real Estates, 929 Vehicles

Release of Seizure on Properties of 889 Defaulters
Real Estate with Individual Official Land Price Below 1 Million Won, Vehicles Over 15 Years Old, etc.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the 27th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it will suspend the execution of delinquent tax collection measures, such as lifting seizures, on seized properties owned by delinquent taxpayers that are deemed to have no collection benefit.

The seized properties subject to suspension of delinquent tax collection measures by Seoul include 188 real estate properties and 929 vehicles, totaling 1,117 cases, involving 889 delinquent taxpayers. The real estate properties include those with an assessed value of less than 1 million KRW based on the individual publicly announced land price, long-term seized real estate that was previously requested for public auction by the Korea Asset Management Corporation but was rejected due to lack of benefit and thus unsellable, and seized vehicles over 15 years old. However, properties currently undergoing light public auctions, those in areas expected to appreciate in value, and high-priced imported vehicles are excluded.

A Seoul city official explained, “Despite the fact that the seized properties have no margin left after covering delinquent tax collection costs such as auction fees and appraisal fees, seizures have been maintained for years without public auctions taking place. We conducted a comprehensive investigation on such unprofitable seized properties and, through the Local Tax Deliberation Committee on the 20th, made a final decision to support the economic rehabilitation of delinquent taxpayers.”

Seoul city stated that delinquent taxpayers can directly request the city to suspend delinquent tax collection measures, and it will actively review requests from taxpayers suffering damages due to unprofitable seizures in the future.

The list of seized properties subject to suspension of delinquent tax collection measures will be posted on the Seoul city website for one month starting from the 27th, and the seizures will be lifted as of January 27 of next year. In addition to the public announcement regarding the suspension of delinquent tax collection measures, Seoul plans to actively send related information by mail to ensure that the affected taxpayers are well informed for their convenience.

With Seoul’s decision to suspend delinquent tax collection measures, the seizures on delinquent taxpayers’ properties will be lifted, and if the taxpayers have no other assets afterward, the statute of limitations will proceed for five years, after which the right to collect delinquent taxes will be completely extinguished. This will provide low-income delinquent taxpayers, who have faced many legal restrictions due to property seizures, with an opportunity for economic recovery and a fresh start. However, during the five-year statute of limitations period, Seoul will regularly investigate whether the delinquent taxpayers acquire other assets such as real estate, and if asset acquisition is confirmed, immediate seizure measures will be taken again, thereby interrupting the statute of limitations.

Seoul expects that this suspension of delinquent tax collection measures does not mean giving up on collection but rather reallocating the costs and manpower spent on managing unprofitable seized properties to tracking hidden assets of delinquent taxpayers and researching and developing new collection methods, thereby taking a step closer to realizing a fair city, Seoul.

Lee Byung-han, Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Finance Bureau, said, “The 38 tax collection investigators of Seoul are not only strictly enforcing delinquent tax collection,” adding, “It is also our duty to serve as a stepping stone for economic recovery by suspending delinquent tax collection on seized properties with no auction benefit for delinquent taxpayers enduring a harsh winter due to COVID-19.”

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