Over 52,000 Implicated In Korean Tax Evasion Probe

by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong

24 April 2002

The Korean National Tax Service (NTS) announced on Monday that it has placed a total of 52,234 of the country's highest earners on a 'blacklist' of potential tax evaders.

This figure represents a leap from last year, when around 9,000 self-employed professionals were under scrutiny. However, the government has repeatedly stressed its determination to stamp out individual tax evasion, following NTS revealations that self-employed workers paid only around 6.9% of total tax revenues in 2001.

The NTS revealed that it has strengthened surveillance of many professional groups, including lawyers, dentists, plastic surgeons, construction business operators, interior designers, real estate brokers, and landlords.

'We've decided to closely monitor those high-income businessmen and self-employed persons to prevent them from engaging in tax dodging schemes,' an NTS spokesman told the Korea Times on Monday.

However, despite emphasising that the purpose of the campaign is to be proactive rather than reactive, the spokesman revealed that many of those 'blacklisted' by the tax authority are already thought to have under-reported their income for tax purposes.

The National Tax Service on Monday pledged to conduct tax audits on those self-employed professionals who continue to falsely report income, and to bring more cases to prosecution.

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