National Tax Service to Directly Assess Delinquent Taxpayers' Payment Capacity... Full-Scale Launch of Delinquency Management Team

Full-scale Operation Begins in March Next Year
1.33 Million Delinquent Taxpayers as of End-2024

The National Tax Service will launch the National Tax Delinquency Management Team in March next year, which will visit the addresses or business sites of delinquent taxpayers to thoroughly assess their living conditions and payment capabilities. The team plans to take measures tailored to each type of delinquent taxpayer, based on a comprehensive review of their economic situation and living conditions.

On September 4, the National Tax Service announced that it is rapidly pushing forward the establishment of the National Tax Delinquency Management Team to verify the status of all delinquent taxpayers.

An official from the National Tax Service stated, "Although we have continuously worked to reduce the amount of tax arrears, the scale of delinquencies has continued to increase, from 99.9 trillion won in 2019 to 110.7 trillion won in 2024, due to internal and external challenges such as economic downturns and limitations in organization and manpower. It is now necessary to implement extraordinary measures for systematic management of national tax delinquencies, such as directly meeting taxpayers to verify their actual financial capacity and establishing a customized delinquency management system tailored to each type of delinquent taxpayer."

Starting in March next year, the National Tax Delinquency Management Team will be fully operational, with the National Tax Service planning to hire ordinary citizens as field investigators. These investigators will visit every delinquent taxpayer in person. Over a total period of three years (2026 to 2028), the plan is to visit all delinquent taxpayers (1.33 million as of the end of 2024) at least once, assess their financial situation, and classify them by type.

Based on these assessments, taxpayers will be categorized as: ▲ livelihood-based delinquents, ▲ those facing temporary payment difficulties, and ▲ intentional tax evaders. Livelihood-based delinquents will be provided with opportunities to recover, such as through connections with welfare agencies, while those with large or habitual delinquencies will be subject to all available collection measures, including on-site investigations and civil lawsuits.

An official from the National Tax Service said, "Immediately upon the inauguration of Commissioner Lim Gwanghyun, a Delinquency Management Innovation Task Force was formed, and we are swiftly carrying out necessary work such as legal revisions, securing budgets, and establishing new organizations in cooperation with relevant ministries. The data collected in the field will be used to refine the classification of delinquent taxpayers with big data technology, and through this, we will build a more efficient delinquency management system."

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