Tax collection increasing from underground economy

Published : Oct 18, 2017 - 09:24 Updated : Oct 18, 2017 - 09:24

The government collected 6.6 trillion won ($5.82 billion) in taxes last year by bringing the underground economy into the official economy, finance ministry data showed Wednesday.

Records for 2013-2016 submitted to the National Assembly for parliamentary audits showed the government had gained a yearly average of 5.39 trillion won in additional taxes in comparison to 2012 through such a process.

The sum in 2013 totaled 3.19 trillion won, which grew to 5.62 trillion won in 2014, 6.14 trillion won in 2015 and 6.6 trillion won last year. The figures exceed the goal set by the former Park Geun-hye administration every year.

(Yonhap)

The current Moon Jae-in government is also trying to bring more of the shadow economy into the mainstream but in a different way from the prior administration, the ministry said. While the Park government relied on tax audits and punitive actions against tax evasion, the incumbent administration aims to induce voluntary reporting and changes to taxation infrastructure, it said. (Yonhap)