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The National Tax Service (NTS) has kicked off inquiries into 65 individuals and firms for a one-month period. The people and companies are suspected of tax evasion, through setting up paper companies in the world's major tax havens.
The tax office estimated that 1,700 Korean firms branches and regional affiliates are operating in tax-free regions.
A high-ranking NTS official said that in the past, the tax office had not been able to get information on such deals in tax-havens, but recently, the office has been closing in on those suspected of tax evasion. The NTS has cooperated with other tax offices around the world in its investigations.
Through intermittent tax investigations from 2000 to June this year, the tax office imposed a total of W70.8 billion in penalty taxes on Korean firms that operate subsidiaries in tax havens.
NTS said its probe would center on three tax-haven countries, including Hong Kong, Singapore and Labuan in Malaysia.
(Kim Young-jin, hellojin@chosun.com )
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