Commissioner Kwanghyun Lim of the National Tax Service: "Minimizing Tax Audit Burden for Companies and Small Businesses... Taxpayers Can Choose Timing"

Key Future Initiatives Presented at Presidential Briefing

The National Tax Service has decided to introduce a “timing selection system” that will allow companies and small business owners to choose when to begin regular tax audits, in order to minimize the burden of tax investigations.

On the 11th, the National Tax Service reported these plans as part of its “Key Policy Achievements Since the Launch of the New Administration and Future Priority Tasks” during a joint work briefing presided over by the President at the Government Sejong Convention Center.

Kwanghyun Lim, Commissioner of the National Tax Service, is giving a briefing at the Government Complex Sejong after a work report on the 11th. National Tax Service

Kwanghyun Lim, Commissioner of the National Tax Service, explained, “Just like regular health checkups, regular tax audits are conducted at set times. With the timing selection system, taxpayers will be able to choose the initiation date of their audit within three months of receiving the tax audit notice, allowing them to be audited at a time of their choosing.” He added, “Once the system is in place, approximately 12 million taxpayers (1 million corporations and 11 million individuals) are expected to benefit when undergoing regular audits.”

The National Tax Service will also introduce a “pre-disclosure system for key audit items,” which will announce in advance the main items typically verified during tax audits, such as excessive employment tax credits and omissions in sales reporting through personal accounts of representatives. This is aimed at encouraging voluntary compliance and reducing the burden of audits by enhancing predictability.

Starting next year, the agency will also implement customized collection measures for delinquent taxpayers. Over the next three years, more than 2,000 field investigators from the National Tax Delinquency Management Team will be deployed to verify the status of 1.33 million delinquent taxpayers, whose overdue taxes total 110 trillion won. For those facing financial hardship, support will be provided through exemptions from payment obligations and connections to local government welfare services to help them recover economically. For malicious or habitual high-amount delinquents, special task forces and dedicated tracking teams will be established to respond with strong enforcement.

In areas where the public recognizes the legitimacy and necessity of tax audits, the agency plans to launch timely investigations. The focus will be on illegal and unfair practices by unscrupulous business operators who exploit essential sectors for excessive profit, drive up prices, or withhold workers’ wages, as well as illegal private lenders who exploit high interest rates for personal gain.

The agency will also respond swiftly to new forms of tax evasion, such as unfair capital transactions that disrupt the stock market (including stock price manipulation), irregular inheritance and gifting schemes that facilitate wealth transfer, sophisticated offshore tax evasion using virtual assets, and online tax evasion by YouTubers who profit from fake news. In particular, for tax evasion in the real estate sector that undermines housing stability, the agency will strengthen cooperation with relevant authorities and rigorously address irregular transactions between related parties, such as high-priced apartment gifting and disguised sales.

Commissioner Lim stated, “Based on a fair, rational, and future-oriented tax administration, we will do our utmost to support Korea in moving beyond recovery and normalization toward a new leap forward.”

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