Gyeonggi Province Expands 'Advance Consulting' for Local Tax Refund Standards Differing by City and County

The Gyeonggi Provincial Government is expanding its "Advance Consulting System for Local Tax Refunds."

Starting this year, the Gyeonggi Provincial Government announced on January 12 that it will lower the threshold for advance consulting on provincial tax refunds from the previous 300 million won to 200 million won or more. For some cities and counties with smaller revenue bases, the system will apply to refunds of 100 million won or more.

Local tax refunds can yield different outcomes depending on the confirmation of facts and the interpretation of relevant laws in each individual case. As a result, even refund applications under the same conditions may be handled or interpreted differently by each city or county.

To enhance the accuracy and consistency of refund decisions, the Gyeonggi Provincial Government has been operating an advance consulting system for local tax refunds since 2022. This system involves a provincial-level pre-review of cases where cities or counties have determined a refund is due and the refund amount for provincial taxes such as acquisition tax exceeds a certain threshold.

Gyeonggi Provincial Government

If it is difficult to determine refund eligibility or there are contentious issues in interpreting the law, the province will participate jointly at the request of the city or county to review the facts and legal issues together.

Through this process, the Gyeonggi Provincial Government will comprehensively review relevant materials with the cities and counties and jointly organize the grounds for determining refund eligibility. This aims to improve the accuracy of refund decisions and prevent a decline in administrative trust caused by differences in refund outcomes between cities and counties.

The Gyeonggi Provincial Government also plans to systematically organize and share with cities and counties the key criteria and cases accumulated during the advance consulting process. By doing so, the province will strengthen a consistent provincial tax administration system so that similar refund cases are subject to the same standards regardless of region.

Cho Byungrae, Director General of Autonomy Administration at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government, stated, "The advance consulting system is not intended to restrict refunds, but rather to make refund decisions more accurate and enhance administrative consistency," adding, "Going forward, we will continue to build a local tax administration that residents can trust through a system of responsible joint review by the province and the cities and counties."