Seongnam City Announces Strong Measures Against High-Amount and Habitual Delinquent Taxpayers Until November

Special Task Force Deployed, Home Searches Conducted
Targeting Intentional Delinquents
Enhanced Support for Foreign Taxpayers

Seongnam City in Gyeonggi Province (Mayor: Shin Sangjin) announced on October 10 that it has designated the period until November as a "Special Delinquent Tax Collection Measures Period" and will further strengthen on-site compulsory collection procedures, led by its specialized tax management team.

Seongnam City Hall exterior. Provided by Seongnam City

The city plans to implement strong administrative sanctions for delinquent taxpayers suspected of owning high-value residences or concealing assets, including not only the seizure of bank deposits, salaries, and accounts receivable, but also restrictions on licensed business operations, requests for travel bans, and public disclosure of names. The city will also actively pursue the seizure of vehicles, bank deposits, and real estate, as well as public auctions of vehicles.

This year, the city set a collection target of 50.7 billion won out of a total of 162 billion won in carried-over delinquent taxes, and as of the end of August, it had collected 36.1 billion won (71.2%). A city official stated, "Our customized collection strategy, which reflects the taxpayer's income, asset size, and payment capability, has proven effective," and emphasized, "We will continue to hold intentional delinquents fully accountable and realize fair tax justice."

During the same period, the city will also strengthen measures against approximately 4,100 foreign delinquent taxpayers, whose total delinquent amount is about 1.5 billion won. The city will utilize a system that allows for the immediate seizure of mandatory insurance for foreign workers, such as departure guarantee insurance and repatriation cost insurance, and will take effective actions such as notifying the Ministry of Justice of high-amount delinquents to restrict their visa extensions. Last year, the total delinquent amount for foreigners was 2.5 billion won, but through intensive collection efforts targeting high-amount delinquents in the first half of this year, about 1.1 billion won was collected, reducing the amount by nearly half.

In addition, to support foreigners who face difficulties in the tax payment process due to language barriers, the city will send guidance notices in Korean, English, Chinese, and Vietnamese, and provide leaflets and banners at family centers (foreign support centers) as part of its tailored support measures.

Meanwhile, the city is actively operating a "Delinquent Tax Integrated Call Center" to strengthen non-face-to-face consultations. For small-amount delinquents, arrears often occur due to simple lack of awareness or missed payment deadlines, so telephone guidance alone can significantly improve the payment rate. In fact, as of the end of August this year, the city handled 15,648 consultations and collected a total of 2.5 billion won as a result.