City Ordered to Repay Over-Charged Tax Amount

A Mr.Jin has filed suit against the City of Seoul and Tobong Ward for compensation amounting to $219,000 because of a land trasnfer tax that had been collected.

The court decided in favor on Mr. Jin in his suit for wrongful taxation but reduced the amount demanded to $136,000. According to court record, the reason for the award was that "the Ward had announced that land owners would be exempted from paying the land transfer tax if transactions and contracts were done by the end of 1992. The City and the Ward, however, overlooked this addendum to the tax code and levied the tax against him." The City must now compensate him for the mistake.

The land transfer tax was first levied against Mr. Jin because of the sale of 1,800 pyong(5,940 sq m) in the Uijongbu area north of Seoul. Teh land was sold to the City in 1992 because of its placement directly in the path of the nearly-complete Line 7 subway route. The land at that time was estimated at $755,000. In addition to the amount he recieved, he had to pay $219,000 in taxes including a $155,000 amount for land transfer tax. Seoul City had forgotten about the exemption clause in the tax code and had asked for the entire $210,000.

by Choi Hyun-chul