A, a major shareholder of a domestic small and midsize company, failed to pay hundreds of millions of won in corporate tax and was listed by the National Tax Service as a high-amount delinquent taxpayer. The agency said it analyzed the company's account information and confirmed that company funds had flowed into A's account.
The National Tax Service's special task force for tracking high-amount delinquents searched A's home and seized 13 luxury watches, including a Rolex worth about 100 million won, 15 pieces of jewelry including bracelets, and seven luxury bags such as an Hermès Birkin, stored in a safe in the master bedroom. Afterward, A paid 100% of the delinquent amount.
B, a wealthy person in their 70s, sold an apartment in Seocho District, Seoul, for several billions of won and did not pay capital gains tax. When the National Tax Service reviewed B's financial transactions, it found that cash had been withdrawn from ATMs hundreds of times in 1 million won increments. The agency discovered and seized 2,200 50,000-won bills—totaling 110 million won—stashed throughout the wardrobe and vanity drawers and on the apartment balcony.
The National Tax Service said on the 26th that the special task force for tracking high-amount delinquents, launched in Nov. last year, searched the residences and other locations of 124 high-amount delinquents and seized 8.1 billion won worth of cash and high-value goods. The agency said, "Cash will be applied to the delinquent amounts, and seized items will be stored in the Seoul Regional Tax Service repository and then put up for public auction."
The auction will be held online at 2 p.m. on the 11th of next month on the Seoul Auction website. Key items include a "Rolex Day-Date watch," with transaction prices reaching up to 60 million won; the starting bid is 25 million won. "Butterflies and Flowers," a work by Japan's leading contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama, will start at 15 million won. An Hermès Birkin 35 bag, with transaction prices around 23 million won, will start at 6 million won.
Auction items can be viewed in person at the Seoul Auction Gangnam Center from the 6th to the 10th of next month. Online, they can be viewed on the Seoul Auction website from the 5th to the 11th of next month.