11,225 High-Amount and Habitual Local Tax and Penalty Defaulters... Over Half in Seoul and Gyeonggi

Over 10 Million Won in Tax Arrears for More Than One Year Confirmed on Local Government Websites
Local Tax Arrears Account for 50.7% in Seoul and Gyeonggi... Penalty and Levy Arrears Also Exceed 60% in Seoul and Gyeonggi

Status by Amount of Delinquent Payments

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The government has reported that the number of delinquent taxpayers with unpaid local taxes or local administrative penalties and charges exceeding 10 million won each has reached 11,225. Among local governments, Seoul disclosed 2,774 individuals, and Gyeonggi Province disclosed 2,434 individuals, accounting for more than half of the total number of delinquent taxpayers.

According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the 16th, as of January 1 this year, the ministry announced that it will publicly disclose the list of high-amount and habitual delinquent taxpayers who have not paid local taxes or local administrative penalties and charges exceeding 10 million won for more than one year on the Ministry of the Interior and Safety website, each city and province website, and the Wetax platform. The disclosed information includes the delinquent taxpayer's name, business name (corporate name), age, occupation, address, tax item of the delinquent amount, payment deadline, and summary of the delinquency. If the delinquent taxpayer is a corporation, the representative of the corporation will also be disclosed.

The list disclosure process involved notifying the individuals subject to disclosure as of January 1 this year in advance and providing a period of more than six months for explanation. If more than 50% of the delinquent amount is paid during the explanation period, or if the delinquent amount falls below 10 million won, or if an objection or appeal is in progress, the case may not be disclosed after review by the Local Tax Deliberation Committee. Additionally, if the delinquent amount is paid after the list is disclosed, the individual may be removed from the list of disclosed subjects.

The disclosure of the list of high-amount and habitual delinquent taxpayers is conducted simultaneously nationwide by metropolitan governments every year on the third Wednesday of November to raise awareness among delinquent taxpayers and foster a culture of sincere tax payment. Through this disclosure system, among the delinquent taxpayers notified of the disclosure in February and March, 3,881 individuals paid approximately 49.2 billion won in local taxes before the disclosure date, and 857 individuals paid 26.5 billion won in local administrative penalties and charges.

In particular, for local tax delinquents, the method of selecting subjects based on the total delinquent amount by metropolitan governments until last year has been changed this year to a new method that sums delinquent amounts scattered nationwide, thereby eliminating blind spots in delinquency management. Through nationwide delinquent amount aggregation, Seoul (2,774 individuals) and Gyeonggi Province (2,434 individuals) accounted for about half (50.7%) of the nationwide disclosed list. The top 10 delinquent taxpayers, both individuals and corporations, mainly owed local income tax. The government plans to entrust the Korea Customs Service with seizure and auction of goods imported by disclosed delinquent taxpayers immediately after the disclosure.

Regarding local administrative penalties and charges delinquents, 57.1% had delinquent amounts of 30 million won or less, with the most common tax item being enforcement fines under the Special Measures Act on the Designation and Management of Development-Restricted Areas, totaling 194 cases. Among the disclosure subjects in the Seoul metropolitan area, including Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi, there were 544 individuals (43.1 billion won), accounting for 60.6% of the total. Compared to last year, the number of disclosed individuals decreased by 450 (33.4%), and the delinquent amount decreased by 22.7 billion won (28.0%). The Ministry of the Interior and Safety analyzed that the decrease in local administrative penalties and charges subjects and delinquent amounts was due to continuous efforts such as active use of various indirect enforcement measures like business permit restrictions and sharing of excellent delinquency collection cases among local governments.

Choi Byung-kwan, Director of the Local Finance and Economy Office at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said, “We will continue to strictly respond to high-amount and habitual delinquent taxpayers so that the majority of residents who pay taxes faithfully do not feel deprived,” and added, “We will make continuous efforts to foster a culture of sincere payment of local taxes and local administrative penalties and charges through this disclosure of the list of high-amount and habitual delinquent taxpayers.”

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