Newly Listed for Unpaid Tobacco Consumption Tax
10,621 Names Disclosed This Year
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety has publicly disclosed the names of 10,621 individuals and entities with large or habitual unpaid local taxes and administrative fines. This year, Choi Sunghwan (56), who was newly added to the list, failed to pay approximately 32.5 billion won, earning the title of the new "top delinquent."
On November 19, the ministry announced that it had released the names, corporate titles, ages, and addresses of those who had failed to pay at least 10 million won in local taxes or local administrative penalties for over a year. Detailed information can be found on the Wetax platform and the websites of local governments and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.
This newly published list includes 9,153 individuals with unpaid local taxes and 1,468 with unpaid local administrative penalties. The total number has increased by 3.4% compared to last year. More than half of the local tax delinquents are based in Seoul (1,804) and Gyeonggi Province (2,816).
Among the individuals newly added to the list this year, Mr. Choi is the highest delinquent, having failed to pay about 32.5 billion won in tobacco consumption tax. He has surpassed Oh Mooncheol, who had not paid about 15.2 billion won over nine years, to become the new "top delinquent."
The highest newly listed corporate delinquent is NSTY Co., Ltd., which failed to pay approximately 21 billion won in tobacco consumption tax. To date, the company with the largest amount of unpaid corporate taxes is Dream Hub Project Financial Investment Co., Ltd., which has not paid about 64.9 billion won in property tax for eight consecutive years.
This year, the individual with the largest amount of unpaid local administrative penalties is Choi Eunsun (79), who owes about 2.5 billion won. Among corporations, Hangdo Academy, an educational foundation, ranks first, having failed to pay about 4.2 billion won.
Each local government selects candidates for public disclosure as of January 1 every year, then provides them an opportunity to explain themselves after review by the Local Tax Review Committee. After six months, the list is reviewed again to finalize those to be disclosed. If a candidate pays more than half of the overdue amount or reduces the amount to less than 10 million won during the explanation period, they are excluded from the disclosure list. Among those reviewed for disclosure this year, 4,744 local tax delinquents paid about 65.1 billion won before their names were made public, and 1,365 individuals with unpaid local administrative penalties paid about 22.4 billion won.
Additionally, the ministry is implementing administrative measures to enhance collection effectiveness for those whose names are disclosed, such as entrusting the disposition of imported goods for overdue amounts of 10 million won or more, imposing travel bans for amounts of 30 million won or more, and detention for amounts of 50 million won or more. To further strengthen the effectiveness of the current collection system, the ministry plans to introduce fundamental measures against large and habitual delinquents, including providing delinquency information to credit rating agencies, strengthening credit evaluation, and conducting asset-tracing investigations in cooperation with the Financial Intelligence Unit.
Han Soonki, Director General for Local Finance and Economy at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, stated, "Fulfilling tax obligations is a basic duty of citizens and the starting point of justice. To create a society where honest taxpayers are respected, we will use every means available to relentlessly pursue intentional delinquents."
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