Gyeonggi-do Collects 320 Million Won from High-Value Tax Delinquents through 'Intellectual Property Seizure'

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province has uncovered a large number of individuals who, despite holding multiple patents or copyrights, habitually defaulted on paying hefty fines, claiming they had no money to pay.

From July to October, Gyeonggi Province conducted a comprehensive investigation, in cooperation with the Korean Intellectual Property Office and the Korea Copyright Commission, into 124,000 people who owed more than 1 million won in non-tax revenue. As a result, on the 10th, it announced that it identified 1,843 people (with arrears totaling 7.4 billion won) holding 239,153 registered intellectual property rights, and collected 320 million won through seizures and other measures.

Intellectual property rights are rights granted by law to protect human intellectual creations that have legal value. These include industrial property rights such as patents and utility models, as well as copyrights. Intellectual property rights are also assets that can be owned as property rights, allowing the owner to use them directly or transfer the rights for others to use.

Among the major cases uncovered, Company A in Icheon City had defaulted on 15 million won in penalties since 2021, citing the economic downturn in Gyeonggi Province. However, when the province notified the company of the seizure of its trademark rights, the company agreed to pay the full amount in installments.

Company B in Gwangju City defaulted on 46 million won in fines, claiming "company funds are frozen and it is difficult," but paid the full amount immediately after being notified of the seizure of its patent and design rights. Mr. C, residing in Uiwang City, also paid the full amount of 15 million won in compensation for provincial property after being notified of the seizure of his patent rights.

The province selected 78 chronic defaulters (with arrears totaling 1.57 billion won) and seized 91 intellectual property rights they held.

Meanwhile, when seizing intellectual property rights held by defaulters, the province pointed out that while seizure registration fees are waived for national agencies such as the National Tax Service, local governments face excessive fees of about 40,000 to 80,000 won per case, making it ineffective given financial conditions. Therefore, in October, the province requested the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the relevant authorities, to exempt local governments from paying seizure registration fees for seizures made in the public interest.

Ryu Young-yong, Director of the Tax Justice Division of the province, said, "Most of those subject to seizure this time are chronic defaulters lacking tax payment awareness. We will continue to do our best to create a culture of sincere tax payment in the province through prompt seizures, development of new collection methods, and thorough management of defaulters."

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