A person holds bundles of dollars at Hana Bank in central Seoul on Aug. 5.NEWS1
The value of reported overseas financial accounts held by Koreans reached 111 trillion won ($81.3 billion) this year, the National Tax Service (NTS) said Wednesday.
Of the reported overseas assets, 61.3 trillion won was held in stocks.
The figures reflect deposits and account balances reported by Korean residents and domestic companies whose combined overseas holdings exceeded 500 million won on the last day of any month during the previous year.
The value of overseas financial accounts reported as of June this year rose 13.3 percent from a year earlier to 107.1 trillion won, according to the NTS. The number of reporting individuals and companies rose 9.1 percent to 7,484.
The reported amount surpassed 100 trillion won for the first time in three years after reaching 186.4 trillion won in 2023, 64.9 trillion won in 2024 and 94.5 trillion won last year.
Stocks accounted for 57.2 percent of the total reported amount. Overseas stock holdings jumped 27.4 percent from 48.1 trillion won last year to a record 61.3 trillion won this year.
Corporate holdings accounted for 53.1 trillion won of the combined foreign stocks.
“The main factors were the expansion of Korean companies overseas and increases in stock valuations,” an NTS official said.
By age group, people in their 60s or older accounted for the largest share of reported assets at 32.6 percent, followed by those in their 50s at 23.3 percent and those in their 40s at 22 percent.
A National Tax Service officer speaks about the results of efforts to track down and recover unpaid taxes from assets held overseas on April 27 in Sejong.NEWS1
The average amount reported per person was 5.48 billion won among those aged 60 or older, 4.89 billion won among those in their 30s and 3.83 billion won among those in their 20s or younger.
Excluding virtual asset accounts, the United States ranked No. 1 in both reported value and number of account holders, with 3,372 holders reporting 29.7 trillion won. India rose to second place by value as the amount reported there increased by 7.2 trillion won from a year earlier to 28.9 trillion won.
The NTS also began requiring overseas trust reports for the first time this year. A total of 1,286 filers reported 3.8 trillion won in overseas trusts.
A total of 1,255 individuals accounted for 97.6 percent of the 1,286 applicants, but companies accounted for 81 percent of the reported value. Most of the assets were funds held in trusts by companies such as asset managers and shipping firms.
“This year’s proposed tax law revisions include raising the maximum fine for failing to report overseas trusts from 100 million won to 1 billion won and introducing rewards for reporting undisclosed overseas trusts,” an NTS official said. “We urge anyone who has failed to report overseas assets to do so promptly.”
BY JANG WON-SEOK [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
