[2022 National Audit] National Tax Service: "Board of Audit requested income data of over 7,000 public officials"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kim Hyewon] The National Tax Service (NTS) stated that it had received a request for public officials' income-related data from the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI).

Park Haeyoung, the auditor of the NTS, revealed this during the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee audit when Democratic Party lawmaker Jeong Taeho asked, "Have you ever been asked by the BAI to provide data related to other income for about 7,000 public officials over the past five years?" He responded, "I understand there was a request for related data."

However, Auditor Park added, "I could not confirm whether the data was actually provided." In response, the Democratic Party demanded that the NTS submit copies of the BAI's official request letters and the information provided by the NTS, respectively.

Lawmaker Jeong criticized, "When requesting audit-related data, the specific audit purpose must be stated, but broadly presenting 7,000 public officials and asking for five years of payment records is inappropriate." Democratic Party lawmaker Hong Youngpyo also condemned the issue as "unacceptable," saying, "We need to know on what grounds the BAI demanded data on 7,000 people. Handling such matters opaquely undermines the neutrality and fairness of the NTS." Hong added, "Since the launch of the Yoon Seokyeol administration, the BAI seems to have become arrogant and omnipotent, acting as the vanguard of political retaliation," and warned, "If the data is not submitted, we will file a complaint."

Kim Changgi, Commissioner of the NTS, explained, "Although there has been controversy over the BAI's data submission requests, since the 2019 legal interpretation by the Ministry of Government Legislation, we have been providing tax information."

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