Tribunal dismisses Hanjin family's appeal on inheritance taxes

SEOUL, Jan. 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Tax Tribunal has rejected an appeal by children of late Hanjin Group founder Cho Choong-hoon against inheritance and additional taxes levied on Cho's undeclared offshore assets, sources said Thursday.

In 2018, the National Tax Service ordered Cho's five children, including late Hanjin Chairman Cho Yang-ho, to pay about 85.2 billion won (US$77.2 million) in taxes, while referring them to the prosecution on charges of dodging taxes on inheritance of their father's overseas assets, including those stashed in a bank account in Switzerland.

Hanjin is the nation's 14th largest business group and owns Korean Air Lines Co.

The children challenged the decision, claiming they learned about the overseas assets only in 2016, 14 years after his death in 2002.

Sources said the tribunal dismissed their complaint late last year, judging that they were aware of the existence of the bequeathed assets and did not report them to the authorities with an intention to evade taxes.

Under South Korean law, beneficiaries are liable to pay inheritance taxes until 10 years after a person's death. But the period can be extended to 15 years if the inheritors are found to have illegally evaded taxes.

nyway@yna.co.kr
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