ID :
189007
Thu, 06/16/2011 - 12:06
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Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/189007
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S. Korea seeks talks with Switzerland on suspicious bank accounts
SEOUL (Yonhap) - South Korea's tax agency plans to hold negotiations with its Swiss counterpart to request disclosure of information on bank accounts suspected of being used by Korean nationals to stash away illegal funds, media reports said Thursday.
The Munhwa Ilbo reported earlier that the National Tax Service (NTS) has launched an investigation into suspicions that Korean nationals used accounts at Swiss banks to hide money that was later used to invest in stocks on the market here.
"We are going to push for consultations with the Swiss tax agency in which we will request disclosure of transaction information involving the Swiss bank accounts," the evening paper quoted an unidentified NTS source as saying.
The probe was launched after the NTS received about 5.8 billion won (US$5.3 million) earlier this year from the Swiss tax agency, which said that Korea was supposed to collect the money on dividend income earned from investment here through investors' secret Swiss bank accounts.
Under the tax treaty between the two nations, South Korea imposes 15 percent tax on dividend income from investment here by Swiss residents. But the tax rate for third-country residents is 20 percent.
After reviewing tax-related documents, the Swiss tax agency said that it found some investors who paid 15 percent tax on dividend earnings turned out to be third-country residents.
It notified the NTS of the discrepancy while collecting the unpaid tax that it then sent to Seoul. Some of the account holders might be South Korean nationals seeking to evade taxes and create slush funds, observers said.
Based on the amount of money, up to 1.8 trillion won might have been hidden in those bank accounts between 2006 and 2008.
This is the first time that Switzerland has returned unpaid taxes to South Korea. However, Swiss authorities rejected Korea's request for disclosure of information on the identities of the delinquent taxpayers, citing lack of relevant regulations between the two nations.
South Korea has been working to revise its tax treaty with Switzerland with the aim of expanding exchanges of bank account information including detailed transaction data. The revision bill is pending in the National Assembly.
But even if the revision passes the parliament and goes into effect next year, it will be applied retrospectively only to transactions from 2011. That will make it tough for the NTS to look into suspected transactions carried out before this year.
The Munhwa Ilbo reported earlier that the National Tax Service (NTS) has launched an investigation into suspicions that Korean nationals used accounts at Swiss banks to hide money that was later used to invest in stocks on the market here.
"We are going to push for consultations with the Swiss tax agency in which we will request disclosure of transaction information involving the Swiss bank accounts," the evening paper quoted an unidentified NTS source as saying.
The probe was launched after the NTS received about 5.8 billion won (US$5.3 million) earlier this year from the Swiss tax agency, which said that Korea was supposed to collect the money on dividend income earned from investment here through investors' secret Swiss bank accounts.
Under the tax treaty between the two nations, South Korea imposes 15 percent tax on dividend income from investment here by Swiss residents. But the tax rate for third-country residents is 20 percent.
After reviewing tax-related documents, the Swiss tax agency said that it found some investors who paid 15 percent tax on dividend earnings turned out to be third-country residents.
It notified the NTS of the discrepancy while collecting the unpaid tax that it then sent to Seoul. Some of the account holders might be South Korean nationals seeking to evade taxes and create slush funds, observers said.
Based on the amount of money, up to 1.8 trillion won might have been hidden in those bank accounts between 2006 and 2008.
This is the first time that Switzerland has returned unpaid taxes to South Korea. However, Swiss authorities rejected Korea's request for disclosure of information on the identities of the delinquent taxpayers, citing lack of relevant regulations between the two nations.
South Korea has been working to revise its tax treaty with Switzerland with the aim of expanding exchanges of bank account information including detailed transaction data. The revision bill is pending in the National Assembly.
But even if the revision passes the parliament and goes into effect next year, it will be applied retrospectively only to transactions from 2011. That will make it tough for the NTS to look into suspected transactions carried out before this year.
