Seoul City Adds Mobile Tax Payment via 'Toss'... One-Stop Service from Bill Receipt to Payment

Receive and Pay Seoul City Tax Bills for Property Tax, Vehicle Tax, and Fines via Mobile
Get Tax Credit and Mileage Benefits by Applying for Electronic Notification

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government will add the mobile financial platform Toss (TOSS) to its electronic local tax notification and payment services and expand its operation starting from the 30th.

Seoul announced that through the simple payment app, it is possible to receive and pay not only local taxes such as property tax and automobile tax but also non-tax revenues such as fines. By applying for electronic notification through the simple payment app or the ETAX website, users can check the details of the notification received on their smartphones and conveniently pay with a registered credit card.

Applicants for electronic notification will receive a tax credit benefit of 150 to 500 KRW if they pay regular local taxes such as property tax (July, September) and automobile tax (June, December) within the deadline, and can accumulate mileage points usable like cash up to 850 KRW.

Seoul plans to increase the electronic notification dispatch rate from 19.5% last year for regular taxes to 24.5% by the end of this year through diversifying electronic notification methods, expanding benefits, and promotion. In particular, by adding electronic notification services through the Toss app, which has 21 million subscribers, it expects to reduce annual paper notification delivery costs by about 1 billion KRW for 150,000 cases.

Additionally, to enhance payment convenience for taxpayers who receive paper notifications, Seoul provides a service that allows users to simply scan the QR code on the notification with a simple payment app and pay immediately, instead of visiting a bank or paying via virtual account as before.

The payment service using the simple payment app Toss will also be expanded on Seoul’s tax payment site ‘Seoul ETAX.’ Users can access ETAX or the mobile app (STAX) and select Toss when paying local taxes.

Meanwhile, Seoul operates ‘customized unmanned payment machines’ and ‘visible ARS’ for citizens who have difficulty moving or using machines, and is making multifaceted efforts to improve taxpayers’ convenience by providing various authentication methods and chatbot services.

Lee Byung-han, Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Finance Bureau, said, "As the preference for non-face-to-face methods has increased due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, we hope that through the expansion of Toss electronic notification and simple payment, Seoul citizens will be able to pay local taxes more conveniently." He added, "Going forward, Seoul will continue to expand taxpayer convenience services so that citizens can pay local taxes easily."