NTS: "Tax Data Processing Period Shortened by 17% This Year... Surcharge Burden Reduced by 42.5 Billion Won"

The National Tax Service has reduced the processing period for tax data by 17% compared to the same period last year, thereby lowering taxpayers' additional tax burden by 42.5 billion won.

As of the end of November this year, the National Tax Service announced on December 22 that it had shortened the average processing period for tax data by 25 days (a 17% reduction) compared to the same period last year. As a result, it reduced the late payment surcharge that taxpayers are required to pay by 42.5 billion won, lowering the late payment surcharge burden rate by 14%.

An official from the National Tax Service stated, "There have been many complaints that delays in processing certain tax data result in late tax notifications, increasing the burden on taxpayers through late payment surcharges and other penalties. By shortening the tax data processing period this year, many taxpayers have been able to resolve difficulties in securing supporting documents for old transactions and have been relieved of excessive surcharge burdens."

Tax data is collected through various channels, such as submissions from external organizations (including real estate and financial data) or analysis of taxpayer filings. Over 2 million tax data cases are built into the National Tax Integrated System (NTIS) annually and are utilized for national tax assessment and collection.

To expedite tax data processing, the National Tax Service established a "Tax Data Task Force" with participation from all relevant departments. The task force gathered diverse opinions, conducted a comprehensive review of unprocessed data (by type, content, and reason for delay), and systematically developed processing guidelines for each type, which were then shared with local tax offices to actively encourage early processing. In particular, the performance evaluation system was strengthened to prioritize and intensively process tax data that imposes a significant late payment surcharge on taxpayers. As a result, the number of tax data cases outstanding for more than three years past the filing deadline was greatly reduced, alleviating concerns about excessive surcharge penalties.

As a result, as of the end of November this year, the processing period for tax data was reduced by 17% compared to the same period last year (from 151 days to 126 days), and the number of unprocessed tax data cases decreased by 25%. Among these, tax data cases that had exceeded three years from the filing deadline and imposed a heavy late payment surcharge on taxpayers decreased by 45%, representing a significant reduction.

An official from the National Tax Service said, "Next year, the National Tax Service will continue to systematically manage tax data, which forms the foundation for evidence-based taxation, and will further shorten the tax data processing period to implement fair and rational national tax administration that best protects citizens' rights and interests. By utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) technology, we will assist taxpayers struggling with complex tax laws and procedures, and enable AI to analyze large volumes of tax data to assess tax effectiveness. Through this AI-driven transformation, we aim to achieve innovation in the future of national tax administration."