Gyeonggi-do Strengthens Crackdown on Vehicles with Overdue Automobile Taxes

Gyeonggi Province is strengthening crackdowns on overdue automobile taxes.

Gyeonggi Province has designated the 26th of this month as the "Day of Intensive Crackdown on Overdue Vehicles" and will conduct focused inspections on overdue vehicles in collaboration with 31 cities and counties within the province, police stations, and Korea Expressway Corporation.

Last year, Gyeonggi Province conducted a quarterly intensive crackdown on overdue vehicles once every quarter. Through this, a total of 2,828 overdue vehicle license plates were confiscated, 650 million KRW in overdue taxes were collected, and six ghost vehicles were auctioned off. This year, the province plans to strengthen enforcement personnel and utilize vehicles equipped with confiscation systems and specialized equipment to conduct four quarterly crackdowns in March, May, August, and October.

Gyeonggi Province is investigating whether vehicles have unpaid automobile taxes. Photo by Gyeonggi Province

License plate confiscation is carried out on vehicles that have overdue taxes nationwide for three or more times or have overdue amounts exceeding 300,000 KRW. The crackdown focuses on areas with high vehicle density such as apartment complexes, public parking lots, and recreational areas.

As of January this year, the number of vehicles with overdue automobile taxes in Gyeonggi Province over the past three years is 138,024, with overdue amounts totaling 76.9 billion KRW. Among these, 14,896 vehicles have overdue automobile taxes six times or more. The overdue amount for these vehicles is 14.5 billion KRW, accounting for 19% of the total overdue amount.

Overdue automobile taxes can be immediately checked and paid through the tax departments of the cities and counties where the vehicle is registered, the Smart WETAX application, and bank CD/ATM machines. If a license plate has been confiscated, paying the full overdue amount at the relevant city or county office or financial institution will allow the owner to retrieve the license plate.

No Seung-ho, Director of the Tax Justice Division of Gyeonggi Province, said, "We will do our best to prevent temporary overdue payments from becoming habitual, block the link that allows ghost vehicles to be used in various crimes, and foster a culture of sincere tax payment."