The Gyeonggi Provincial Government conducted a comprehensive investigation into 115 delinquent taxpayers who had changed their nationality but continued to reside and engage in economic activities in Korea, collecting a total of 76.79 million won in overdue local taxes and non-tax revenues.
Even though these individuals are engaged in economic activities or possess assets in Korea, changing their nationality to that of a foreigner makes it difficult to collect overdue taxes, as enforcement actions are often delayed. In particular, for those who have changed their nationality, the deletion of their resident registration makes it hard to determine their place of residence, requiring more administrative resources compared to ordinary delinquent taxpayers.
To address this, the Gyeonggi Provincial Government established an investigation and collaboration system in partnership with the Ministry of Justice, allowing it to receive domestic residence information for delinquent taxpayers who have changed their nationality and to link the entire process from identification to collection. Previously, confirming whether a taxpayer who had lost their Korean nationality was still residing in Korea required manual cross-checking of credit information and resident registration records. Now, by sending the list of individuals who lost their nationality to the Ministry of Justice, the government can obtain residence information for those still living in Korea.
Gyeonggi Province is the first local government in the country to establish such an investigation system. By reducing the investigation period from up to six months to less than one month, the province has significantly improved the efficiency of enforcement actions against delinquent taxpayers.
In October last year, during a comprehensive investigation into nationality-changed delinquent taxpayers using this system, Gyeonggi Province thoroughly verified changes in foreigner registration numbers, immigration records, and evidence of domestic economic activity to select individuals from whom collection was actually possible. This was followed by asset inquiries, advance notices of enforcement actions, seizures of real estate, vehicles, and bank deposits, as well as on-site investigations.
As a result, 79 out of the 115 individuals investigated were confirmed to possess assets and engage in economic activities in Korea.
The Gyeonggi Provincial Government seized a total of 69 assets, including real estate, vehicles, and bank deposits, and conducted on-site investigations, ultimately collecting a total of 76.79 million won in overdue payments. Of this amount, 58.79 million won was in local taxes, and 18 million won was in non-tax revenues.
No Seungho, Director of the Tax Justice Division at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government, stated, "It is not easy to track and collect from those who change their nationality to evade enforcement actions, but Gyeonggi Province has become the first in the country to establish a regular investigation system for identifying such delinquent taxpayers. We will continue to manage information on nationality-changed delinquent taxpayers at all times and work to eliminate blind spots in tax collection."
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