S. Korea beefs up measures against influencers' possible tax evasion

SEJONG, Sept. 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea said Monday that it is strengthening measures to cope with possible tax evasion by influencers and YouTube content creators.

South Korea has been collecting tax information on influencers and YouTubers through various tax records and financial data on transactions provided by the Financial Intelligence Unit, an affiliate organization of the Financial Services Commission, the country's financial watchdog.

Currently, South Korea can get access to information on remittances worth US$10,000 or larger per year from foreign countries.

Some have called for lowering the ceiling to prevent tax evasion, but the ministry remains cautious on the issue.

Some YouTube content creators reported their earnings to the National Tax Service earlier this year after the tax agency launched a probe into content creators who uploaded videos to YouTube for alleged tax evasion, according to the tax agency.

The finance ministry also said in a separate report to the parliament that the government will strengthen taxation on delinquent taxpayers.

The tax agency has said that it can request detention for those who fail to pay national taxes three times and those whose overdue taxes are worth more than 100 million won (US$83,000).

The measure, which will take effect next year, is subject to a court decision.

In 2018, the tax agency collected 1.88 trillion won in taxes from delinquent taxpayers.

entropy@yna.co.kr
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