NTS to strengthen legal workforce

By Choi Kyong-ae

The National Tax Service (NTS) will overhaul its legal affairs team to help cope with lawsuits filed by people unhappy with heavy taxes, the tax agency said Sunday.

The NTS has lost many high-value disputes with large law firms acting for plaintiffs.

NTS commissioner Lim Hwan-soo has asked officials in charge of legal affairs to come up with measures to win such legal battles handled by firms such as Kim & Chang and Bae, Kim & Lee LLC, according to an NTS spokesman.

“Reacting to a lawsuit is the second tax investigation” into possible underreporting or tax evasion, the commissioner said after he took office in August.

The NTS plans to reorganize its legal affair teams in Seoul and five other provincial tax offices in January after consultations with the Ministry of Security and Public Administration, the spokesman said.

In a recent report released by Park Myung-je, lawmaker from the ruling Saenuri Party, the NTS failed to win lawsuits valued at 717.9 billion won ($673 million) last year.

As the Seoul Regional Tax Office accounted for 86 percent, or 617.9 billion won, out of suits appealing against an NTS tax imposition, it will strengthen its tax affairs division to focus on disputes with large law firms, the spokesman said.

The Seoul office plans to recruit a legal expert from outside as chief of its legal team. It is also considering hiring lawyers specialized in tax and related affairs, he said.

The tax authorities have stepped up their drive to collect taxes to help support the government’s costly welfare programs since President Park Geun-hye took office in February last year.