A family that evaded the succession of unpaid taxes by removing inherited assets and renouncing their inheritance has been caught by the National Tax Service.
According to the National Tax Service, the deceased A transferred a large amount of real estate before his death and neglected to pay the capital gains tax. A had no assets in his own name, and the children renounced the inheritance, making it impossible to collect unpaid taxes from both the deceased and the children.
The National Tax Service tracked the deceased's deposits, discovering that the transfer amount was withdrawn in small cash amounts through hundreds of transactions or withdrawn in cash via other people's accounts.
Upon reviewing the CCTV from the ATM where the transfer amount was withdrawn, it was found that the individuals who withdrew the cash were A's children. The National Tax Service obtained a search warrant for the children's residence, conducted a search, and seized several hundred million won in cash. The National Tax Service deemed that the children inherited the unpaid taxes according to civil law and fully transferred the deceased's unpaid amounts to them. Additionally, they reported the children as tax evasion offenders.
The National Tax Service announced on the 13th that it will expand the number of tax offices operating a 'property tracking investigation task force' from 25 to 73 to strengthen investigations into malicious tax delinquents. On the 17th of last month, a nationwide workshop for the tracking investigation task force was held to present best practices and share expertise in tracking delinquencies.
In cases of delinquent collections, there was also a method of creating 'shell corporations' by selling all of a corporation's real estate and going out of business. According to the National Tax Service, corporation B, which deals in real estate construction and sales, sold all its owned real estate and generated substantial income; however, it did not report or pay corporate tax on that income and instead paid out interim dividends to shareholders before going out of business.
The National Tax Service uncovered that corporation B intentionally carried out interim dividends despite knowing that corporate tax would be levied on the income from real estate sales before the dividend decision and that it would not have the ability to pay taxes after distributing the dividends. Afterward, there were no cases of successful legal actions to recover the dividends, and despite the high possibility of losing, they filed a lawsuit against the shareholders and succeeded in collecting several hundred million won in unpaid taxes.
They also secured results by seizing the accounts of a delinquent who was engaged in illegal lending brokerage using fictitious accounts. Delinquent C was a major lender who owed substantial taxes, had no assets or income, yet lived a luxurious lifestyle in a high-end apartment.
The National Tax Service precisely tracked the financial accounts of a spouse with high consumer spending. As a result of expanding the search to accounts under relatives' names, it was found that large amounts of deposits and withdrawals were made under multiple names, indicating that these accounts were being used for lending.
Through inquiries and reconnaissance, including analyzing ATM CCTV, parking lot entry and exit records, and road CCTV, they identified the actual owner of the account as the delinquent and imposed a preliminary seizure on the fictitious account. After obtaining a search warrant, they collected several hundred million won in cash. The National Tax Service reported 10 individuals, including the delinquent and relatives, for offenses related to evading tax enforcement.
Ahn Min-kyu, head of the National Tax Service's collection division, noted, 'We are continuously strengthening property tracking investigations against high-value and habitual tax delinquents,' adding, 'We will pursue and collect hidden assets of delinquents to realize tax justice and fair taxation.'