National Tax Service to Collect Unpaid Fines and Penalties... Overdue Amount Reaches 16.2 Trillion Won

National Tax Service to Unify Collection of Delinquent Non-Tax National Revenue
From Over 300 Laws and 4,500 Agencies to a Unified Collection Act
“Leveraging the National Tax Service’s Expertise in Tax Collection to Manage Non-Tax Revenue Delinquencies”

The National Tax Service is set to implement integrated collection of non-tax national revenue delinquencies, such as fines, administrative fines, and penalty surcharges. The goal is to leverage the National Tax Service's capabilities and expertise to improve the currently low collection rates.

According to the National Tax Service on June 13, the total amount of overdue non-tax national revenue, which encompasses 95 different types, reached 16.2 trillion won as of the end of last month.

Non-tax national revenue refers to all government income other than taxes. Currently, 3.84 million people have overdue payments such as administrative fines, penalty surcharges, fines, and compensation payments. An official from the National Tax Service stated, "The collection rate for penalty surcharges is at 73%, administrative fines at 40%, and compensation payments at 22%, which are all relatively low. If the National Tax Service manages non-tax national revenue in an integrated manner, the collection rate is expected to rise to the 90% level, similar to that of tax revenue."

Currently, non-tax national revenue is managed separately by 4,500 agencies based on around 300 different laws. Each ministry is responsible for its own areas: the Ministry of Environment handles environmental charges, the Ministry of Employment and Labor is in charge of wage claim repayments, the National Police Agency manages traffic fines, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport collects development charges and manages delinquent payer information. As of last year, non-tax national revenue amounted to 258 trillion won, accounting for 43% of the government's annual income.

In response, the National Tax Service plans to establish a system to transfer delinquent non-tax national revenue cases to the agency for collection. Currently, a bill for integrated collection is pending in the National Assembly. A National Tax Service official commented, "Once the integrated collection system is operational, it is expected to prevent fiscal leakage, secure government finances, achieve tax justice, clear up delinquency records, identify welfare beneficiaries, and create productive jobs. This will generate multiple benefits. To achieve this, from July, we will conduct a status check and establish a collection system through the Non-Tax National Revenue Delinquency Management Unit, and prepare the foundation for integrated collection, including related legislation, IT infrastructure, organization, and personnel."

Going forward, the National Tax Service aims to become an integrated fiscal revenue agency and will focus its investigative capabilities on stock and real estate tax evasion. The National Tax Service has investigated 27 cases of unfair tax evasion in the stock market, including "tunneling" (diversion of assets and profits) and "stock price manipulation" groups, collecting a total of 257.6 billion won and imposing 38 administrative penalties (30 criminal charges and 8 notifications). Last month, the agency investigated an additional 31 cases, including stock price manipulation, tunneling, and illegal investment advisory rooms, continuing its efforts to crack down on entities disrupting a sound capital market.

Regarding tax evasion that drives up inflation by exploiting price collusion and monopoly status to generate excessive profits and burden ordinary citizens, the National Tax Service has collected 308.4 billion won to date through four large-scale investigations. The agency has also identified and addressed all types of real estate transaction-related tax evasion, recovering 48.1 billion won in unearned income generated from real estate speculation. In the past year, the National Tax Service has collected a total of 614.1 billion won in taxes through investigations into stock, real estate, and price collusion-related tax evasion.

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