April 25, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] South Korea and Hong Kong will share financial information on residents starting 2019, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said on Jan. 23.

According to the ministry, the two sides have signed an agreement on automatic exchange of financial account information, and that the tax authorities will begin sharing information from 2019.

Under the agreement, the tax authorities of the two governments will automatically exchange a range of information including name, address and details of financial accounts held by taxpayers.

At present, related information can be obtained from each side upon request under the tax treaty that took effect last year.

Seoul’s Finance Ministry said that the agreement will strengthen its efforts against offshore tax evasion, and that the ministry plans to set up channels for sharing information with 45 governments this year.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)