Ulsan City Introduces Delinquency Analysis Service... Seizure of 'Coin' Exchanges, Vehicle Tracking Enforcement
[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Ulsan City is launching a campaign to "hunt" delinquent local taxes using the latest methods such as big data-based analysis services and virtual currency sales.
The latest collection methods introduced by Ulsan City include local tax delinquency analysis services, virtual asset (currency) sales, and utilization of specific financial transaction information.
The delinquency analysis service is a pilot service operated by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety in six metropolitan cities including Ulsan. It analyzes delinquency data using local tax big data to predict the payment possibility for each delinquent taxpayer and applies customized collection techniques according to delinquency types.
Simple delinquents with a high likelihood of payment are encouraged to voluntarily pay through prior notification, while livelihood-type delinquents may have their delinquency measures deferred or be linked to welfare departments to protect vulnerable groups.
Additionally, by utilizing big data on delinquent taxpayers' address information, the characteristics and movement patterns of delinquent vehicles are analyzed to select areas with high appearance frequency during morning or afternoon hours, focusing enforcement efforts on those areas.
Measures are also being pursued to seize virtual currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, which high-amount delinquents use as hidden assets, to collect delinquent amounts.
Until last year, collection on virtual assets was impossible due to legal deficiencies, but this year, with the revision of the Local Tax Collection Act, virtual asset sales through virtual currency exchanges have become possible.
Furthermore, specific financial transaction information, previously provided only by the Financial Intelligence Unit to the Commissioner of the National Tax Service and the Commissioner of the Korea Customs Service, is now also provided to local governments due to related legal amendments.
Accordingly, the cash flow of delinquents who live a luxurious lifestyle but are recorded as having no assets can be tracked to seize hidden or nominee assets, and remittance information of individuals subject to travel bans can also be obtained.
An official from Ulsan City stated, "Starting this year, we plan to introduce various delinquency collection methods to uncover hidden assets of delinquents and ensure tax fairness among taxpayers."
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