The National Tax Service (NTS) is mobilizing a 10,000-member delinquency management team to verify the status of 130 trillion won in tax delinquencies. The agency aims to enhance the efficiency of national revenue management by establishing an integrated collection system for non-tax revenue, thereby preventing financial leaks.
On July 15, during a departmental report meeting hosted by President Lee Jae-myung at the Blue House, the NTS presented its key initiatives for the second half of the year.
The five main initiatives include: integrated collection of non-tax revenue, innovation in delinquency management, establishment of tax justice, inclusive support for livelihoods, and a major transition to artificial intelligence (AI) in tax administration.
To evolve from a tax collection agency to an integrated revenue management institution, the NTS is pushing for the consolidation of non-tax revenue delinquency collection systems. Currently, non-tax revenue delinquencies are managed separately by various ministries under over 300 laws. The NTS plans to centralize this management to improve efficiency in revenue oversight.
To achieve this, the NTS aims to implement the integrated collection of non-tax revenue by 2027, accelerating the establishment of a solid operational foundation. The agency has signed memorandums of understanding with 17 ministries, including the National Police Agency and the Fair Trade Commission, to build a database of delinquent taxpayers based on the information gathered.
An integrated management system will also be launched to link delinquency notifications and information from all ministries in real-time with the tax administration system. The NTS plans to expand dedicated organizations and personnel to consolidate non-tax revenue collection and prevent financial leaks.
The delinquency management team will see significant expansion. In addition to the 500 members launched in March, the NTS will hire an additional 9,500 members for the tax and non-tax revenue delinquency management teams, deploying them across 133 tax offices nationwide. This initiative aims to establish a verification system for the 130 trillion won in delinquencies.
Through the operation of the delinquency management team, the NTS expects to achieve tax justice, secure finances, create productive jobs, streamline delinquency management, and identify welfare beneficiaries. Among the 5,500 new hires from the first recruitment round, 41.8% are in their 20s and 30s.
These personnel will conduct tailored verification based on the type and scale of delinquency, utilizing methods such as phone consultations or on-site checks with tax officials. Malicious high-value delinquents will be referred for investigation, while those facing financial difficulties will be connected to welfare support.
The NTS will also strengthen its response to tax evasion to establish tax justice. The agency plans to focus on investigating tax evasion that exacerbates price instability, such as price collusion and hoarding, as well as unfair tax evasion that disrupts capital market order, including stock manipulation and tunneling, and offshore tax evasion that leads to national wealth outflow.
Actions will be taken against corporate misuse of funds, such as using corporate-owned luxury homes or supercars as personal assets. The NTS will analyze reports submitted to the real estate tax evasion reporting center to address issues like circumventing loan regulations for property acquisition, irregular transactions following the reintroduction of multi-home taxation, and misuse of business loans.
To support livelihoods, the NTS will provide liquidity assistance to struggling businesses and small enterprises affected by high exchange rates and fuel prices, including extending payment deadlines and expediting refunds. Additionally, the suspension of tax audits for small businesses with sales under 1 billion won will be extended until the end of the year.
The NTS will expand AI integration across all areas of tax administration. Future plans include developing services where AI can automatically prepare tax returns based on inputs like financial statements and basic corporate information, as well as an AI system to automatically detect tax evasion.
Im Kwang-hyun, Commissioner of the NTS, stated, “In the past six months, the changes initiated by removing unfair practices and privileges, starting from the voices of the people, have led to results in various fields. In the second half of the year, we will strive to exceed public expectations and support a leap forward for ‘irreplaceable Korea’ through the NTS.”
* This article has been translated by AI.
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