As tax evaders come clean, gov’t benefits to tune of $766M

The tax agency said yesterday it has secured 863.3 billion won ($765.7 million) in unpaid taxes from high-income tax evaders in the first seven months of this year.

The National Tax Service (NTS) said it cracked down on tax evaders among wealthy citizens in the January-July period, finding that 1,420 high-income earners have engaged in dodging taxes through diverse tactics. As a result, the NTS said that it has ordered them to pay 510.3 billion won in cash for unpaid taxes and seized 224.4 billion won worth of their properties. The tax agency has also secured tax claims estimated at around 128.6 billion won.
Those tax evaders were found to have dodged taxes in excess of 100 million won by, in many cases, concealing their cash and assets under the names of their spouses or relatives. The NTS has been beefing up its clampdown on tax evasion since it launched a task force in February intended to track down the hidden assets of wealthy citizens.

Dim sum bonds generate tidy windfall for Shinhan Bank

Shinhan Bank said yesterday it has raised 600 million yuan ($95 million) in so-called dim sum bonds to diversify funding sources amid the prolonged global downturn.

The yuan-denominated bonds were priced to yield 3.5 percent and will mature in two years, the lender said. Dim sum bonds refer to those denominated in the yuan and issued in Hong Kong. The latest debt sale comes amid its efforts to diversify funding sources, the lender said, without elaborating on the use of the proceeds from the debt sale.

Earlier in March, Shinhan Bank also sold debts worth 625 million yuan in the Hong Kong bond market. The number of Korean companies raising funds by selling the yuan-denominated bonds in Hong Kong has been on the increase since last year.

Yonhap