|
The National Tax Service, which has been accused of a series of politically motivated tax probes under previous administrations, says it will set up a committee including private-sector experts to come up with a set of standards for such investigations. The NTS says it intends to seek the approval of a taxpayer rights committee, also including members from the private sector, before extending tax probes, and will form a set of guidelines to prevent tax investigators from demanding too many documents.
Included in the NTS reform plans are ¡°orientation¡± sessions where officials explain to people facing audits the reason behind the probe, direction and process of the investigation, their individual rights and what to prepare in advance. Once the tax probe is over, the NTS says it will provide consulting on tax and accounting measures to those being investigated, while explaining to them how they can appeal so they are not unfairly penalized. Also to be implemented is a program where the taxpayer being investigated has a chance to evaluate the investigator on his or her job performance and integrity. NTS officials falling into the top 5 percent range in those evaluations will be given priority in promotions, while those in the bottom 10 percent range will be penalized, including being taken off investigations.
Every time a new president took office, the NTS has launched tax probes of businesses who were either critical of those in power or otherwise disobedient. There were also instances where businesses were subject to tax probes because they were close to the opposition or rival forces of the administration. But there have been virtually no instances where businesses were caught and punished for crimes such as passing on management control from owner to son through illicit means. The NTS has nothing to say in its defense if it is criticized for launching tax investigations as a means of revenge rather than for the purpose of enforcing the payment of taxes.
It remains to be seen whether the promised reforms will alleviate the distrust and dissatisfaction taxpayers feel toward that agency. The NTS has pledged to reform several times in the past, but such efforts always lost steam shortly after they were announced. The reason the NTS gained this reputation may partially be that previous administrations tried to use the agency as their weapon. But the leadership at the NTS have willingly become tools of revenge to retain the favor of those in power. Already there are questionable motives behind the NTS¡¯s recent tax investigation of Yang Jeong-rye, who got the no. 1 party-list seat for the Pro-Park Alliance, and her family. The footprints are still fresh: let the NTS take a good, hard look at them.
|
