Researcher at Seoul City Hall's 38 Tax Collection Division spoke about the difficulties of tax collection.
On the 1st, the tvN grants 'You Quiz on the Block' featured Seoul City Hall 38 Tax Collection Division researcher Lee Seok-geun and researcher Choi Young-hyun, nicknamed the grim reapers who catch high-value tax delinquents.
The 38 Tax Collection Division took its name from Article 38 of the constitution. Researcher Choi Young-hyun said, "Article 38 of the constitution contains the provision on citizens' duty to pay taxes, and the name originated from there. The division motto is to pursue until the end and definitely collect. We collect taxes that have been delinquent by more than 10 million won." He said the unpaid amounts they have recovered since 2001 total 4 trillion won, and this year's collection target is 230 billion won. Researcher Choi Young-hyun explained, "A target amount set within a collectible range."
Among individual delinquent amounts, the highest was reported as 3.3 billion won, and among corporate delinquencies the highest was reported as 7.6 billion won. Researcher Lee Seok-geun said, "They often say, 'What has the country done for me?'" and Yu Jae-seok said, "That's a familiar thing to hear," letting out a wry laugh. Researcher Lee Seok-geun said, "Hiding assets means they are not in the person's name, so in my case I filed many lawsuits. Because you cannot collect assets under another person's name, you prove through litigation that the assets belong to the delinquent and make them pay the taxes themselves."
The success rate for asset recovery litigation is reported as 99%. Researcher Choi Young-hyun explained, "Usually there are no assets in the person's own name. If assets are in their name, we seize them, but they do things like fake divorces or transfer assets to family members' names. They also transfer assets to fake business sites." Researcher Lee Seok-geun said, "A main focus is fake divorces; I remember one case where they moved the address to an abandoned house and hid assets in the spouse's name. The assets diverted to the spouse alone exceeded 10 billion won. After two years of tracking, we discovered it was a fake divorce in its 10th year and collected taxes through a house search."
Because delinquent taxpayers often do not live at their registered addresses, stakeouts were almost a necessary element. During a house search of a delinquent who said they had no money, investigators found about 60 luxury bags. The researchers who found luxury bags with a market value exceeding 900 million won said, "These items are all seized. We request appraisal from an appraisal agency, then recover them through public auction." They added, "Because of cases like this, we invite luxury goods experts for training and even do window shopping ourselves." The researchers also amused audiences by sharing episodes that occur when they visit delinquents.
The researchers' actual house search scenes were also revealed. After a struggle with a delinquent who tried to close the door when they learned it was the tax collection division, the investigators entered the home and, after notifying about the house search, proceeded to seize household items. The researchers said they had seized horses, hunting guns, yachts, a villa owned by a spouse, and a wine cellar in a mansion. Regarding delinquents hiding assets in virtual currency, they explained, "We collect evidence and request the virtual currency exchange to seize the items owned by the delinquent." Some delinquents even used abusive language and violence, so the researchers' difficulties could not be put into words.
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