The Nationwide Tax Service has commenced a particular tax audit concentrating on Coupang Success Companies (CFS), Coupang’s logistics subsidiary.
In keeping with trade sources on Dec. 22, the Seoul Regional Tax Workplace Investigation Bureau 4 dispatched roughly 100 investigators to the Coupang Success Companies headquarters in Songpa-gu, Seoul, and different areas to safe accounting information and different supplies obligatory for the tax audit. Whereas the investigation goal is Coupang Success Companies, it was confirmed that investigative personnel had been additionally deployed to the primary headquarters constructing, because the subsidiary makes use of a part of Coupang’s headquarters constructing.
The Seoul Regional Tax Workplace Investigation Bureau 4, referred to as the “Grim Reaper of the enterprise world,” is the division solely answerable for irregular (particular) tax audits. It usually handles instances involving company slush funds or large-scale tax evasion allegations. The Nationwide Tax Service has not but confirmed what particular allegations prompted the investigation.
Nevertheless, with personnel from the Worldwide Transaction Investigation Bureau additionally reportedly concerned on this investigation, hypothesis means that the Nationwide Tax Service will conduct a precision verification of transactions between Coupang’s home company and its U.S. headquarters. The tax trade believes that if the home company inflated numerous prices in remittances to the U.S. headquarters and correspondingly under-reported home revenue, costs of “overseas foreign money outflow” or “tax avoidance” could possibly be utilized.
Coupang Success Companies is a 100% subsidiary of Coupang headquarters that oversees the operation of logistics facilities. Some counsel that the scope of the Nationwide Tax Service’s investigation might increase, provided that Coupang just lately confronted social criticism resulting from a large-scale private info leak controversy. Since Coupang headquarters underwent a particular tax audit final yr, fairly than instantly conducting duplicate investigations, authorities might examine the subsidiary first after which increase the scope again to the headquarters if extra allegations emerge.
In the meantime, the Democratic Celebration introduced on Dec. 22 that it’s going to maintain a joint listening to of 5 Nationwide Meeting standing committees on Dec. 30-31 concerning the Coupang private info leak incident. The listening to will contain the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee; the Political Affairs Committee; the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee; the Setting and Labor Committee (Local weather, Vitality, Setting and Labor Committee); and the Technique and Finance Committee.
Heo Younger, the Democratic Celebration’s senior ground coverage deputy chief, emphasised, “If Coupang Chairman Kim Bom-seok fails to attend, we are going to create means to compel attendance by submitting costs, conducting parliamentary investigations, and issuing accompaniment orders,” including, “The Technique and Finance Committee may also focus on the need of particular tax audits by the Nationwide Tax Service.”
