Ministry of SMEs and Startups Responds to Board of Audit and Inspection's Criticism: "Will Improve System to Enhance Policy Effectiveness and Soundness"

Company Receives 38.8 Billion KRW VAT Refund... Board of Audit and Inspection Calls It "Budget Waste"
Ministry of SMEs and Startups: "Will Request Investigation and Take Legal Action for Violations"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups stated that it will "carry out its policies effectively and soundly" in response to the Board of Audit and Inspection's (BAI) criticism that government funds amounting to 40 billion KRW were wasted.

On the 18th, the BAI announced that it identified 19 cases of illegal and improper actions during an institutional audit of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and requested disciplinary action against one employee. In response, the ministry said, "We plan to implement SME and venture policies more effectively and soundly based on this audit."

Regarding improper handling of the non-face-to-face service voucher project, the BAI pointed out that last year, about 130,000 demand companies received a VAT refund of 38.8 billion KRW on government subsidies, resulting in budget waste.

The ministry stated, "Starting from this year's project, the system has been improved so that demand companies bear the VAT on the voucher amount when receiving project funds."

Concerning the issue of providing educational services for elementary, middle, and high school students to SMEs during the voucher project, the ministry acknowledged, "We admit the criticism that services with low relevance to the work were supported for SMEs," and added, "From this year's support projects, the education service (Edutech) sector has been excluded from support."

Regarding suspected cases of rebates or paybacks by some companies participating in the voucher project, the ministry said, "We will decide the level of sanctions through the project operation committee within the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development for companies suspected of fraud," and "We plan to request investigations and take legal action on illegal matters."

Additionally, the ministry reported that it has improved the overall system to prevent fraudulent activities and to enable companies with genuine demand to participate.

Furthermore, it announced plans to take measures regarding ▲ improper calculation and execution of smart factory project funds ▲ inadequate post-management such as analysis of smart solution utilization rates ▲ improper use of technology escrow fees by the Korea Foundation for SMEs and Startups Cooperation.

The ministry stated, "We will continue thorough inspections of suppliers providing non-face-to-face services to demand companies through improper means and take firm actions such as recovering unjust profits and requesting investigations."

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