37 Years of Tax Arrears Resolved... Yeongdeungpo District Achieves Tax Justice Through Litigation

Selected as Grand Prize Winner at Seoul Metropolitan Government's 'Outstanding Local Tax Arrears Collection Case Review'
Cancellation of Senior Provisional Disposition Registered on Delinquent Taxpayer's Property Through Creditor Subrogation Lawsuit

Ho Kwon Choi, Yeongdeungpo District Mayor

Yeongdeungpo District (District Mayor Ho Kwon Choi) announced that it achieved a remarkable feat by winning the Grand Prize at the '2025 Outstanding Local Tax Arrears Collection Case Review' hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, by presenting its case on 'Collecting Long-Term Delinquent Taxes Through Litigation.'

In this evaluation, which was conducted among local districts to discover local tax improvement tasks and select outstanding cases, the district was selected as the top local government, receiving high marks for originality, effectiveness, and impact.

To realize tax justice and expand fiscal resources, the district successfully collected long-term delinquent local taxes by analyzing the rights to seized real estate owned by long-term delinquents and conducting proactive collection activities. For example, one delinquent taxpayer owed approximately 9 million won and had not paid local taxes since 1988. The district attempted to auction the taxpayer's seized real estate to collect the arrears, but a senior provisional disposition had been registered, and all current holders of this disposition had passed away.

In response, the district filed a lawsuit to cancel the provisional disposition against the heirs of the disposition holder through a creditor subrogation suit, succeeded in removing the provisional disposition from the registry, and issued a pre-auction notice. As a result, the delinquent taxpayer paid a portion of the arrears and expressed an intention to pay the remainder in installments.

In addition, to strengthen arrears collection, the district is implementing strong administrative measures such as restricting business licenses for high-value and habitual delinquents, disclosing their names, imposing travel bans, and seizing license plates.

Furthermore, to enhance taxpayer convenience, the district is also implementing various customized tax administration measures, such as issuing large-print tax notices, preparing foreign language guides, and providing automatic withdrawal services for installment payments.

Ho Kwon Choi, Mayor of Yeongdeungpo District, stated, "This achievement is thanks to the passion of our staff who have actively worked to realize tax justice," adding, "We will continue to implement proactive measures to collect arrears, ensure fairness for diligent taxpayers, and eradicate malicious delinquency."