Customs Service unveils list of import duty tax evaders

Korea Customs Service on Thursday unveiled a list of 113 individuals and 79 corporate bodies that have evaded import duty taxation for a year or more.

The customs agency said that it was making public the names of those who intentionally dodged their duty taxes for more than a year after sending a notice of warning to them in February that their names would be made public unless they paid their fair share or submitted a statement explaining why they failed to pay.

An individual and corporate body that didn’t pay duty tax worth 300 million won ($276,000) or more for at least one year after payment was due is subject to disclosure, which includes residential addresses.

The majority of cases involve individuals reporting goods’ value lower than their real value to authorities, the customs service reported. The total amount of unpaid duty tax stands at 322.4 billion won, which translates into 1.7 billion won on average per person or business.

Those on the list could be banned from leaving the country.

By Kang Jin-kyu