Korea’s National Tax Service Commissioner Lim Kwang-hyun called for cross-border cooperation on tax enforcement at the OECD Forum on Tax Administration in Cape Town this week, urging global tax chiefs to deepen joint efforts on delinquent tax collection and support companies expanding overseas.
The three-day meeting held Tuesday to Thursday gathered tax commissioners from 54 jurisdictions and representatives from the International Monetary Fund, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and other international bodies. There, they discussed tax administration priorities, including reducing tax gaps and compliance costs, strengthening arrears management and accelerating digital transformation.
During the meeting, Korea’s tax chief called for stronger collaboration on delinquent tax collection, urging foreign authorities to make greater use of compulsory measures — such as information requests, asset seizures and public auctions — to recover unpaid taxes tied to overseas assets. He also highlighted the OECD network’s role in building systems to detect and respond to offshore asset concealment.
On the sidelines of the event, the Korean agency signed memorandums of understanding with France, New Zealand and Belgium to expand information sharing and tax administration cooperation. Commissioner Lim also held bilateral talks with his counterparts from countries with active economic ties to Korea, seeking continued support for Korean companies entering their markets.
Discussions included measures to address double-taxation issues through more active use of the mutual agreement procedure under tax treaties. Commissioner Lim and participating officials agreed to strengthen cooperation in jurisdictions where Korean companies are expanding rapidly, including construction, energy and defense in Saudi Arabia, and autos and batteries in Slovakia and Hungary.
“We remain committed to exercising global leadership in tax administration, further strengthening our ties with key international tax administration bodies such as the OECD and expanding the framework of cooperation among tax authorities,” said an official.
“We aim to create a stable, predictable tax environment for businesses we support.”
andreahaneu@heraldcorp.com
