“I Filed My Return, but They Charged Me a Fee”... Consultations on Tax-Filing Services Surge

Up 116.2% from the previous month

Consumer consultations related to tax-filing services have surged, with cases including platforms charging higher-than-expected fees.

The Korea Consumer Agency and the Korea National Council of Consumer Organizations said on October 30 that an analysis of consumer consultations received by the 1372 Consumer Counseling Center in September found 281 cases related to tax-filing services. This was a 116.2% increase from 130 cases the previous month and a 726.5% surge from 34 cases in the same month last year.

The number of consultations rose sharply after consumers who checked their potential refunds or applied for tax-filing services through platforms during the comprehensive income tax filing process were charged unexpectedly high fees.

In one case, Consumer A checked the potential refund amount on a tax-filing platform app in June, then filed a regular return directly through the National Tax Service and received the refund as expected. However, the platform operator presented the refund that A had processed independently as the result of its own filing service and charged a fee for using the service. A demanded a full refund, believing that no tax-filing service had actually been provided after payment, but the operator refused, repeatedly giving the same response.

There were 48,893 consumer consultations in September, down 4.8% from 51,358 the previous month and 16.6% from 58,628 in the same month last year. After tax-filing services, the product and service categories with the highest month-over-month increases in consultations were ▲plastic surgery clinics (35.2%) ▲various fruits and processed fruit products (34.0%) ▲wedding services (33.3%) and ▲parcel delivery services (17.5%).

At plastic surgery clinics, consultations increased over requests to cancel surgery contracts and return down payments. Most consultations about fruits and processed fruit products concerned complaints that fruit bought for the Chuseok holiday had spoiled or was in poor condition. For wedding services, the most common issues were requests for refunds of down payments following contract cancellations and claims for penalty fees. Consultations about parcel delivery services frequently concerned delayed or missing deliveries.

The categories with the most consultations were ▲air passenger transport services, with 1,242 cases ▲gyms, with 1,121 cases and ▲various health foods, with 834 cases.

Consumers who experience harm can request counseling through the 1372 Consumer Counseling Center, which can be reached without an area code, or through Consumer24. They should have details of the transaction and supporting documents ready.

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