Seoul City Collects 177.3 Billion KRW in Overdue Taxes in First Half of Year... Record High

Increased by 7.3 Billion KRW Compared to the Same Period Last Year

Seoul City collected 177.3 billion KRW in overdue taxes in the first half of this year. This early achievement represents 83.2% of the annual target of 213.7 billion KRW, marking the highest collection performance since the establishment of the 38 Tax Collection Division in 2001.

On the 3rd, Seoul City announced the "2023 First Half Overdue Tax Collection Performance Analysis." As of the end of June, the total amount of overdue taxes collected by Seoul City's 38 Tax Collection Division and 25 autonomous districts reached 177.3 billion KRW, an increase of 7.3 billion KRW compared to the same period last year (170 billion KRW).

Earlier, Seoul City resumed field-centered collection activities, which had slowed due to COVID-19, through various methods. For the first time among local governments nationwide, Seoul City and Seoul Customs conducted 38 joint home searches targeting high-value tax delinquents. In addition to cooperation with the Korea Customs Service, the city plans to exchange information on import customs clearance data of delinquents, whether they are overseas purchasing agents, and their overseas high-value goods purchase status.

Furthermore, the criteria for requesting travel bans on local tax delinquents owing more than 30 million KRW have been expanded this year from the combined overdue amount of the city and autonomous districts to a nationwide total. Administrative sanctions, including travel ban requests for high-value delinquents, have been strengthened.

Recently, joint crackdowns have been conducted with related agencies such as autonomous districts, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, and Korea Expressway Corporation to seize and tow vehicles with unpaid automobile taxes and fines (commonly known as "Daepocha"). Additionally, strong administrative sanctions such as providing public record information and travel bans have been enforced, and property investigations of delinquents have been carried out targeting secondary financial institutions scattered nationwide.

In particular, thorough property investigations have been conducted on the families of delinquents. It is common for delinquents to evade payment by deliberately not inheriting or by not registering inherited property to avoid tax collection. The city explained that it collects overdue taxes through various civil lawsuits such as cancellation suits, subrogation registration, mortgage cancellation, and injunction cancellation against such acts.

Seoul City emphasized that in the second half of the year, it will conduct a comprehensive re-investigation of seized real estate, vehicles, and deposits under the names of delinquents, meticulously examining not only hidden assets but also seized properties to ensure that not a single won of overdue taxes is missed.

Han Young-hee, Director of Seoul City's Finance Bureau, stated, "Seoul City plans to relentlessly pursue unscrupulous high-value delinquents who have the ability to pay but evade taxes," adding, "We will continuously develop new collection methods to enhance collection effectiveness and contribute to creating a social atmosphere where paying taxes is an inevitable duty."

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