Seoul City "Report Hidden Assets and Receive a 100 Million Won Reward"... 1.9 Trillion Won in Arrears

Seoul City to Promote Entire Seoul Online and Offline with 25 Districts Throughout September

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government is stepping up efforts together with citizens to track down malicious and intentional tax evaders who hide their assets.

According to Seoul City on the 5th, in addition to direct tax collection measures such as seizure, public auction, and collection when confirming the assets of high-amount tax delinquents themselves, administrative sanctions such as public disclosure of names, travel bans, and provision of credit information are implemented. Despite investigations tracking family members and related parties, the 38th Tax Collection Division currently manages about 24,000 delinquents, with their total unpaid taxes amounting to 1.9 trillion KRW.

The 38th Tax Collection Division has 24 investigators directly responsible for collection, each managing about 1,000 delinquents. If two investigators visit daily to conduct field surveys on the delinquents’ living conditions and economic activities, it would take two full years of daily work, and this is only possible if the delinquent actually resides at their registered address.

Seoul City is utilizing new collection techniques such as financial inquiries, home searches, and virtual asset seizures to eradicate malicious tax evasion. However, as methods of hiding assets become increasingly sophisticated and cunning, voluntary reporting by citizens is crucial to trace the secretly concealed assets of tax delinquents.

Since 2014, Seoul City has operated the ‘High-Amount Tax Delinquent Hidden Asset Reporting Center,’ receiving a total of 77 reports so far. Among these, 11 reports led to the collection of 1.3 billion KRW in unpaid taxes, and reward payments totaling 80 million KRW were made. Major reports included information on the operation of businesses under borrowed names, bond information difficult for tax authorities to obtain, false mortgage registrations, and information on luxury residences.

If citizens report objectively verifiable evidence that a tax delinquent is hiding assets to the ‘High-Amount Tax Delinquent Hidden Asset Reporting Center’ and contribute to tax collection, they can receive a reward of up to 100 million KRW. The list of delinquents is available on the Seoul City website under ‘High-Amount and Habitual Tax Delinquent Public Disclosure.’ Reports and supporting documents can be submitted via eTax, mail, or in person. Rewards are paid when at least 10 million KRW of unpaid taxes are collected, ranging from 5% to 15% of the collected amount, with a maximum limit of 100 million KRW.

To promote voluntary reporting of hidden assets by citizens, Seoul City will actively cooperate with 25 autonomous districts and private organizations throughout September to publicize the ‘High-Amount Tax Delinquent Hidden Asset Reporting System’ across every corner of Seoul. Promotion will be conducted through various offline media such as district street billboards and IPTV videos inside district offices, as well as online media including Seoul City’s official SNS, blogs, and the ‘Seoul in My Hand’ app. In particular, in Gangnam and Seocho districts, where many high-amount delinquents reside, promotional videos will be shown on all apartment and officetel elevator TVs.

Jung Heon-jae, Director of the Seoul City Finance Bureau, said, “Seoul City is conducting strong tax collection measures to track down the hidden assets of high-amount tax delinquents who maliciously evade tax payments, but voluntary reporting by citizens is essential to find these secretly concealed assets, so we ask for your active interest.” He added, “We will relentlessly pursue hidden assets and ensure that unscrupulous tax delinquents who maliciously evade tax payments pay their taxes.”

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