Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.
NTS to ease tax verification for local business owners
National Tax Service (NTS) Seoul Regional Office in central Seoul / Korea Times file
By Anna J. Park
By Anna J. Park
In a move to alleviate difficulties faced by local business owners due to COVID-19, the National Tax Service (NTS) announced Friday that it will ease tax verification and streamline year-end tax adjustment procedures.
“Amid the current resurgence of COVID-19, the NTS needs to assume a strengthened role,” NTS Commissioner Kim Dai-ji said in an online meeting of district tax office heads Friday. “The NTS plans to ease tax verification for small business owners, who are facing difficulties from the pandemic and unbalanced economic recovery.” Kim added that the tax office will take bold action in offering direct help to job creators to boost the national economy.
The NTS chief also said annual year-end tax adjustment procedures will be largely streamlined. Currently, the taxation system puts business owners through a complicated annual process.
“From the second half of the year, the NTS will implement a full-on transformation into digital taxation,” Kim added.
“The core of the change is digitization of all spheres of national taxation. By incorporating technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data and cloud services, the NTS plans to create a new, upgraded normal for the taxation service.”
Meanwhile, he warned of severe punishment for any tax evasion, explaining that the NTS is trying to earn the publics' trust by imposing fair taxation.