On August 14, President Moon Jae-in directed his secretaries to immediately come up with extraordinary measures to lessen tax burdens on the self-employed and small merchants.

President Moon said that while the self-employed make up a high percentage of the total workforce in Korea, the majority of them regrettably have incomes below those of wage earners. He went on to stress that given the special nature of self-employed businesses and the difficulties they face, it is necessary to significantly reduce tax-related economic burdens through such measures as the temporary suspension or exemption of tax audits so that the six million self-employed and small-scale businesspeople can concentrate solely on their livelihoods.

Accordingly, National Tax Service Commissioner Han Sung-hee briefed President Moon on countermeasures at 2:30 pm. The National Tax Service will soon announce a set of measures to lower tax burdens and provide tax incentives for the self-employed and micro-business owners, which include those discussed today.  

During today’s briefing, President Moon asked the Commissioner to give consideration in terms of national tax to the self-employed and micro-business owners, who have created many job opportunities and taken the lead in hiring young people. The President also emphasized that the tax authorities have to use on-site reviews to ascertain the tax-related inconveniences and difficulties facing the self-employed and swiftly come up with and proactively expound on countermeasures.  

President Moon pointed out that a system was introduced this year to help those suffering from business failure by exempting them from national taxes in arrears. The President added that in some cases those who are eligible for the benefit fail to utilize it because they are not even aware of the system. Then, he asked that tax authorities avoid waiting on the sidelines, expecting the eligible to become aware of the benefit on their own. Rather, the President stressed that they must identify and guide every single one who qualifies with a sense of urgency and help them with sincerity. In this way, failed business owners can recover as soon as possible by escaping the hardships caused by back taxes.