Eunpyeong-gu's non-tax revenue delinquency unit draws praise for 'warm tax administration'
Officials sent out to verify and collect unpaid fines and surcharges have been drawing attention for an unexpected side effect of their work: uncovering households in crisis that had slipped through the welfare safety net.
During visits, collectors sometimes discover residents struggling with serious illness or severe financial hardship and connect them with community centers or social welfare agencies. Delinquents in genuine distress may also receive a deferral of enforcement action, giving them a chance to get back on their feet.
Eunpyeong-gu in Seoul has almost no large employers — no major corporations or industrial complexes of the kind that make collecting non-tax revenue such as fines and surcharges relatively straightforward. The district is a typical residential area of narrow alleyways and low-rise villa-style apartment blocks, making collection and delinquency management considerably harder than in other parts of the city.
Tax offices nationwide under the National Tax Service hired about 9,500 non-tax revenue delinquency inspectors in two rounds, on July 1 and Oct. 1. Eunpyeong-gu has 39 of them. Beyond counseling delinquents on their outstanding obligations, the inspectors connect those in need of welfare benefits with the relevant agencies. Since the unit began operating in July, 45 cases have been referred to welfare services as of Wednesday.
The work is not without its frustrations. Because inspectors follow a protocol of calling ahead before making a home visit, delinquents sometimes mistake the calls for voice-phishing scams and hang up, making it difficult to arrange visits.
"We found a young couple who had been battling cancer for years and were suffering both physically and financially, a person who had spent 60 years as a single disabled individual caring for their parents and was now alone, and someone with no income or assets after a business failure," said an inspector surnamed Kwon. "We connected them with the Eunpyeong welfare center for emergency support and arranged for their enforcement actions to be deferred."
The inspectors' work has earned recognition for going beyond revenue collection to address gaps in the welfare system. "It is true that Eunpyeong-gu's particular character makes non-tax revenue management difficult," said Ko Byeong-jae, head of the Eunpyeong Tax Office. "Thanks to the hard work of the inspectors out in the field, we are able to help neighbors who might otherwise be overlooked."
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