849,000 Corporations Must File and Pay Corporate Tax by End of March

Corporations Affected by COVID-19 Granted Up to 9-Month Extension for Filing and Payment Deadlines
'Corporate Tax Filing Support Task Force' Formed... Diligent Support for Filing and Consultation Provided

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] The National Tax Service (NTS) announced on the 26th that for profit corporations and non-profit corporations engaged in income-generating activities whose fiscal year ended in December last year, as well as foreign corporations with domestic source income, corporate tax must be filed and paid by the 31st of next month.

Corporations subject to the consolidated tax payment system must file and pay by May 4th, with the consolidated parent company aggregating the income of each consolidated corporation.

According to the NTS, the number of corporations with a December fiscal year-end required to file this time is 849,000, an increase of 53,000 from the previous year.

Corporations required to file can electronically file through the NTS Hometax system starting March 1st. Corporations with no sales and no tax adjustments can use the simplified electronic filing system.

Also, non-profit corporations with only interest income can easily prepare and submit their tax returns through Hometax.

If the tax amount payable exceeds 10 million KRW, installment payments can be made for up to one month after the payment deadline (two months for small and medium enterprises) without a separate application.

In particular, corporations experiencing difficulties in management due to the recent novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) can apply for an extension of the payment deadline for up to nine months.

The NTS will automatically extend the deadline for small and medium enterprises affected by workplaces where confirmed cases occurred or passed through, as well as businesses near areas housing returnees from Wuhan.

Additionally, the corporate tax filing deadline for Daegu and Cheongdo areas in Gyeongbuk, which are under special infectious disease management, will be automatically extended by one month. Filing by May 4th is allowed.

Furthermore, companies affected in industries such as tourism, travel, performance-related businesses, food and lodging, passenger transportation, hospitals and clinics, wholesale and retail, and Chinese trade companies can apply for deadline extensions after confirming commercial damage.

Moreover, domestic corporations that have made overseas direct investments or acquired overseas real estate must submit related documents by the corporate tax base filing deadline. Failure to submit related documents of overseas local corporations or overseas real estate without justifiable reasons by the statutory filing deadline or additional submission request deadline will result in fines of up to 50 million KRW each.

Public interest corporations must also submit reports on contributed assets, tax verification certificates from external experts, and financial statements submitted to the competent authorities to the relevant tax office.

The NTS stated, "During this filing period, a dedicated corporate tax filing support team will be organized to provide full support for tax filing and consultation," and added, "We will conduct strict verification of filing details for corporations that file insincerely by thoroughly analyzing whether the filing assistance materials were reflected, so we ask for sincere filing."