Nowon-gu Collects 1,122 Cases and 221.67 Million KRW from Malicious Tax Delinquents through Trust Real Estate

Achievements of Assigning Tax Obligations to Trustees of Trust Assets
under the Revised Local Tax Act of 2024

Nowon-gu, Seoul (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) announced that it designated real estate trust companies as tax obligors for 1,122 cases of delinquent property tax and collected 221.67 million KRW in overdue taxes.

Since 2021, the revised Local Tax Act stipulates that if the trustor, who is the tax obligor, defaults on property tax for trust assets, the trustee who manages the trust assets is assigned the tax obligation to pay the property tax.

Accordingly, in the process of collecting delinquent taxes, the trust company assumes the material tax obligation. Payment notices are sent, and if full payment is not made within the deadline, delinquent tax measures (seizure and sale) are enforced.

However, during the change of tax obligor under the revised Local Tax Act (from delinquent taxpayer to property trustee), confusion often occurred depending on the timing of applying delinquent tax measures, causing difficulties in tax collection. To resolve this, Nowon-gu actively reviewed relevant laws on trust assets and sought efficient collection methods through legal consultation.

Last year, for habitual delinquent taxpayers of property tax on trust assets, the trustee (trust company) was designated as the material tax obligor, and payment notices were directly delivered to encourage payment.

As a result, since the designation of material tax obligor in 2024, Nowon-gu has collected 221.67 million KRW from 1,122 delinquent cases to date. The district will continue to encourage payment from trustors and, if payment is not made, will pursue material tax obligation against trustees.

Nowon-gu was the first autonomous district in Seoul to start the Kakao AlimTalk delinquency notification service and introduced the nation’s first taxpayer-centered refund guidance service, enhancing taxpayer convenience and contributing to increased tax revenue through innovative ideas. Additionally, it operates on-site tax consultation offices at major district festivals and provides evening tax consultation services for office workers after work hours, receiving consistent positive responses from residents.

Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon-gu, stated, “We will actively manage the increasing local tax delinquencies related to trust real estate. Especially amid the economic downturn, we will do our best to enhance fairness with taxpayers who faithfully pay local taxes and to foster a fair tax culture.”

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