After a Two-Hour Standoff, 1 Billion Won in Cash Found in a Suitcase at Home... Joint Raid by Tax and Customs Authorities

[Financial News] A man in his 40s, identified as A, who runs an e-cigarette import business, had fallen behind on about 6.4 billion won in taxes, including individual consumption tax and value-added tax, after falsely labeling raw materials and underreporting sales. Even after shutting down his business, he continued operations by setting up a company in his father's name in the same line of work, while failing to pay the overdue taxes. A joint raid team from the National Tax Service and the Korea Customs Service (KCS) visited a residence in Seoul registered under A's father. When A's mother refused to open the door, officers forced entry after a two-hour standoff and seized assets worth 1.02 billion won, including 540 million won in cash and 480 million won in checks found inside a suitcase in the master bedroom.
According to the National Tax Service and KCS on the 23rd, the two agencies carried out their first joint raid targeting high-value, habitual tax delinquents suspected of hiding assets. The operation led to the seizure of hidden assets worth about 1 billion won in cash and checks, along with luxury bags and other items, bringing the total to around 1.3 billion won. The agencies also secured a commitment from one delinquent to make monthly installment payments of 15 million won.
The joint raid was launched in line with the government's emphasis on cross-agency cooperation. By closely linking the two agencies' capabilities in tracking delinquent taxpayers and information on hidden assets, they aimed to respond more effectively to high-value, habitual delinquents.
The targets were high-value, habitual tax delinquents who could pay but deliberately refused to do so while enjoying a lavish lifestyle. A total of 16 people were selected, including eight under the jurisdiction of Regional Tax Offices and eight under Seoul Customs Office and Busan Customs.
The agencies exchanged the National Tax Service's data on hidden assets and actual residences, as well as the Korea Customs Service's registered addresses linked to customs clearance identification numbers. Regional Tax Offices and customs offices then conducted a detailed analysis of the data to determine the targets and locations for the raids. Eight joint teams, each made up of about 10 officers, were then deployed according to the jurisdiction of each delinquent.
Kang Jong-hoon, Director General for Tax Collection and Legal Affairs at the National Tax Service, said, "Compared with a solo operation by the National Tax Service, the joint operation produced far better results in terms of average raid success rates and the number of seizures." He added, "We succeeded in uncovering hidden assets in 13 of the 16 cases, or about 80%."
The three representative cases disclosed that day involved a combined tax delinquency of more than 7 billion won. In addition to A, a man in his 50s identified as B, who works in insurance solicitation, had accumulated about 120 million won in unpaid taxes after underreporting insurance solicitation income and failing to report capital gains. He was also found to have maintained a lavish lifestyle, traveling abroad 127 times over the past five years.
At an apartment parking lot in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do, the joint team confirmed B's vehicle and seized five luxury bags, one luxury bracelet, and eight watches from a suitcase. They also secured 15 promissory notes worth about 500 million won, seized them as receivables, and began collection in sequence as each due date arrived.
Until now, the National Tax Service and KCS had cooperated by offsetting customs refunds against tax arrears, or vice versa, when a delinquent taxpayer was due a refund. But this was the first time the two agencies worked together from selecting targets to deploying officers on site. Kang explained, "The National Tax Service has strengths in consumption and production data, while KCS has strengths in actual residence data for cleared goods, so sharing that information allowed us to conduct more precise raids."
Based on this result, the National Tax Service and KCS plan to institutionalize the exchange of information on hidden assets and living conditions for people who owe both national taxes and customs duties, and to continue joint responses.
[email protected] Seo Young-joon Reporter