High-Value Tax Delinquents' 'Tricks' Halted by Seoul Main Customs Office Lawsuit

A high-amount tax delinquent attempted to evade forced collection through deceptive means, but due to a lawsuit filed by the customs authorities, they are now in a situation where they must pay the outstanding tax.

Seoul Main Customs announced on the 18th that it filed a fraudulent conveyance cancellation lawsuit against Mr. A and Corporation B and recently won consecutive favorable rulings.

According to customs, Mr. A violated the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act by submitting false supporting documents to customs, disguising the payment for virtual asset purchases sent overseas as payment for goods, and was fined accordingly.

However, just before the delinquency (600 million KRW), he transferred 50% of a luxury villa he owned (worth approximately 440 million KRW) to his cohabitant, hiding assets to evade forced collection.

Corporation B was fined for violating the Foreign Trade Act but did not pay the fine. Immediately after the delinquency (130 million KRW), it concealed assets by transferring real estate owned by the corporation (worth approximately 340 million KRW) to the spouse of the corporation’s representative through an agreement (stipulating that ownership would be transferred if the principal and interest were not repaid after borrowing funds to purchase real estate).

Customs detected these acts by Mr. A and others and filed a fraudulent conveyance cancellation lawsuit with the court. A fraudulent conveyance cancellation lawsuit is a legal action that allows creditors to seek cancellation of property transfer when a delinquent debtor intentionally transfers property to another person to evade asset seizure.

As the tax creditor, customs judged that Mr. A and others hid assets to avoid paying the delinquent amount and filed the lawsuit, resulting in favorable rulings in both cases.

Once the court rulings are finalized, customs plans to cancel the registration of real estate ownership transfers, restore ownership to the delinquent taxpayers, and proceed with seizure and public auction to cover the delinquent amounts.

Lee Seok-moon, Commissioner of Seoul Main Customs, stated, “Through the tracking investigation by the delinquency management department, we have achieved results in blocking the illicit transfer of assets by high-amount tax delinquents. Customs will continue to cooperate with related agencies to establish a culture of sincere tax payment by intensifying efforts such as tracking hidden assets and strengthening administrative sanctions.”

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