The scale of tax evasion by "hit-and-run gas stations" that sell illegal duty-free fuel and then shut down without paying taxes reached 67.5 billion won over the past five years, but the actual amount collected was only about 1%. They register low-income people or small business owners as the taxpayer of record, siphon off and sell duty-free fuel, and quickly close up and disappear. Even if the National Tax Service later tries to collect, recovery is difficult because they are not the actual operators.
On the 9th, according to data submitted by Rep. Kim Yeong-jin of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the Strategy and Finance Committee of the National Assembly, from the National Tax Service, the total number of hit-and-run gas station cases detected over the past five years (2020–2024) was 365, and the assessed tax amounted to 67.5 billion won. Of this, the amount actually collected was only 676 million won.
The number of cases detected and the assessed tax by year were ▲2020: 61 cases (11.482 billion won) ▲2021: 105 cases (17.83 billion won) ▲2022: 78 cases (20.239 billion won) ▲2023: 65 cases (11.229 billion won) ▲2024: 56 cases (6.72 billion won).
The typical method of "hit-and-run gas stations" is to use leased gas stations that are temporarily closed or shut down to sell illegally for three to four months and then vanish. In particular, a nationwide simultaneous inspection in 2023 confirmed that such illegal fuel was distributed even as duty-free marine fuel supplied to oceangoing vessels.
This is why there are calls to sharply increase enforcement personnel and to urgently establish systems to prevent repeated tax evasion. Rep. Kim Yeong-jin said, "Hit-and-run gas stations have a structural problem of putting up a 'figurehead' to avoid tax collection," adding, "There are limits to crackdowns alone."
He added, "We need to expand on-site National Tax Service personnel and refine the early warning system so rapid responses are possible," and "For deliberate and repeated tax evasion, institutional measures must be strengthened to ensure that collection is carried out without fail."