ID :
194925
Thu, 07/14/2011 - 04:49
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/194925
The shortlink copeid
Seoul to clamp down on wealthy people's offshore tax evasion
SEOUL, July 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's tax agency said Thursday that it will beef up its crackdown on wealthy citizens' attempts to evade taxes by concealing money in overseas financial accounts.
The crackdown will be focused on those holding 1 billion won (US$943,400) or more in overseas accounts and not reporting their money holdings to the tax authorities, according to the National Tax Service (NTS).
The NTS asked its nationals to report their money held in overseas accounts to local tax offices by the end of last month if the amount exceeded 1 billion won for any given day.
"We estimate that the reported bank accounts represent no more than 5 percent of what should have been declared," an NTS official said. "During the second half, we will focus our investigation on the unreported bank accounts."
The NTS added that it plans to toughen punishment on those who have not declared their overseas bank accounts, while stepping up efforts to collect unpaid taxes by wealthy people.
The probe comes amid growing suspicion that wealthy people are turning their eye to offshore tax havens to conceal income and evade taxes as transparency has increased here since the introduction of the real-name bank account system in 1993.
The crackdown will be focused on those holding 1 billion won (US$943,400) or more in overseas accounts and not reporting their money holdings to the tax authorities, according to the National Tax Service (NTS).
The NTS asked its nationals to report their money held in overseas accounts to local tax offices by the end of last month if the amount exceeded 1 billion won for any given day.
"We estimate that the reported bank accounts represent no more than 5 percent of what should have been declared," an NTS official said. "During the second half, we will focus our investigation on the unreported bank accounts."
The NTS added that it plans to toughen punishment on those who have not declared their overseas bank accounts, while stepping up efforts to collect unpaid taxes by wealthy people.
The probe comes amid growing suspicion that wealthy people are turning their eye to offshore tax havens to conceal income and evade taxes as transparency has increased here since the introduction of the real-name bank account system in 1993.
