Audit Board of Korea: Welfare Tax Fraud Significantly Increased After COVID-19

[Photo by EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] The UK National Audit Office (NAO) has analyzed that the amount of welfare-related taxes overpaid in the UK after the COVID-19 pandemic exceeds ?8 billion (approximately 12.45 trillion KRW).

It pointed out that there were many fraudulent claims and government payment errors during the process of injecting government funds to alleviate the economic difficulties of the public after COVID-19.

The NAO explained that before COVID-19, the amount of taxes overpaid by the UK Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was over ?4 billion. This means the scale of overpayments doubled after COVID-19.

Regarding fraudulent claims, the NAO analyzed that most were related to Universal Credit, a system supporting low-income workers. After the COVID-19 pandemic was declared and a nationwide lockdown was imposed, the number of Universal Credit recipients doubled to 6 million. The NAO estimated that the amount of overpaid taxes related to Universal Credit last year and this year is about ?6 billion.

The NAO pointed out that fraudulent claims and payment errors after the COVID-19 pandemic were at an all-time high and urged the government to devise countermeasures.