Team to combat offshore tax evasion

Tax, customs and financial authorities plan to set up a joint task force to better crack down on offshore tax evasion, sources said Monday.

The new body will be established within this year with officials from the National Tax Service, Financial Supervisory Service and Korea Financial Intelligence Unit, they said.

The government is seeking to strengthen its fight against tax offenders as a way of increasing revenue. The NTS has established two internal bodies for the task ― the Offshore Compliance and Enforcement Center and the Forensic & Anti Tax Evasion Center ―- as tax evasion methods are becoming increasingly sophisticated.

(cynthiak@heraldcorp.com)