New Town Speculators Face Tax Probe
By Yoon Ja-young
Staff Reporter
The National Tax Service (NTS) said it started a large-scale tax audit of those suspected of evading tax on transactions around the new town to be built east of Dongtan, Gyeonggi Province.
The tax agency said it would commit 378 tax officials in tax probes of speculators in the new town area. It has already selected 112 people suspected of speculating not only in Dongtan, but also in other regions mentioned as candidates for the new town sites.
The government announced Friday a plan to build a 6.6 million-pyeong (about 2,180 hectare) new town next to Dongtan.
The NTS will investigate all the suspects' real estate transactions and changes in property since 2002, especially focusing on unlawful acts such as making fake contracts, unregistered transactions, or transactions in other persons' names.
Land and home prices around the site for new town surged months before the announcement of the site, as speculators bought properties on expectations of further rises in prices.
In one case reported by the tax agency, a man, identified by his last name Moon, acquired a total of 11,300 square meters of land _ including a 5.2 billion won gas station _ in Dongtan and the surrounding areas in 2001. However, he filed only an annual 40 million won income on average during the last five years. The tax agency said it would investigate Moon on the suspicion that he intentionally understated his income and diverted loans for businesses to real estate speculation.
Those evading due taxes will be charged and reported to the prosecution, the tax agency said.
It added that it would set up individual database to continue keeping an eye on real estate transactions of those who have bought real estate there.
``The tax probe will continue until the expiration of the new town plan,'' said Han Sang-ryul, vice commissioner of the tax agency.