[Seocho-dong Legal Story] Domestic Violence Father Fails to Pay Tens of Millions in Insurance Premiums Under Daughter's Name

She suffered from her father's horrific domestic violence. Around 2004, when Kim was in elementary school, her mother had to be hospitalized several times due to her father's assaults. The father also physically abused Kim's older sister. The three of them even fled to another region to escape the violence. In 2007, the parents divorced, and since then, Kim lived with her mother.

Kim became a full-fledged university student. However, in March 2015, her father came to see her. He demanded, "Please lend me the business owner’s name for the company I will operate." Afraid of being assaulted, Kim lent him her name.

49,098,160 KRW. The National Pension Service imposed pension insurance premiums on Kim, who was the registered business owner on paper. The premiums from October 2015 to October 2016 were unpaid because her father did not take responsibility.

[Image source=Pixabay]

Kim appealed to the National Tax Service, and after verifying the facts, the National Tax Service canceled the value-added tax at Kim’s request.

Kim submitted the National Tax Service’s decision document to the National Pension Service. She then requested, “(Since the business owner registration under the National Pension Act itself was incorrect,) please retroactively change the business owner to my father as of September 16, 2015, when the initial business registration was made.”

The National Pension Service changed the business owner to her father on February 14, 2020, one day before the National Tax Service’s decision was notified to Kim. However, they informed her that retroactive changes prior to that date were impossible.

Kim knocked on the door of the Administrative Court. Her side pleaded, “Please cancel the National Pension Service’s refusal to apply the change retroactively.” She also requested confirmation that she was not liable for the unpaid insurance premiums (confirmation of non-existence of debt).

The first trial court judged that it was unfair for the National Pension Service to refuse retroactive changes based on its internal processing standards, especially since it was clearly revealed during the National Tax Service’s review that the actual business owner was the father.

The court first held that the National Pension Service’s imposition of insurance premiums was not itself incorrect, reasoning that the service did not have the ability or authority to determine whether the registration was false. Nonetheless, the court ruled that “it is reasonable to retroactively reflect the business owner change as of the initial registration date, September 16, 2015.” It recognized that the father was the actual operator of the business and that Kim’s name was lent due to the influence of domestic violence.

The court explained, “Among 17 complaints related to unpaid wages at the business, 13 named the father as the counterpart, and at the time of business registration with the location in Donghae-si, Gangwon Province, Kim was attending university in Seoul. Refusing Kim’s request to retroactively change the employer to her father under the National Pension Act without justifiable reason is illegal.”

Since neither party appealed, the first trial ruling was finalized as is. With the business owner’s name changed, the responsibility for the unpaid insurance premiums shifted from Kim to her father. Meanwhile, the father passed away in April 2021.