The National Tax Service is recruiting 4,000 temporary workers to verify the status of 16 trillion won ($10.8 billion) in unpaid non-tax government revenue.
The agency announced Tuesday it had posted a second-round recruitment notice for temporary staff to work at non-tax revenue delinquency management units across 133 tax offices nationwide.
The temporary workers will contact about 4.24 million delinquent non-tax payers — who collectively owe 16 trillion won — by phone or in-person visits to assess their living conditions and financial circumstances. They will not conduct seizures, searches or other collection activities.
Those selected will work five days a week, eight hours a day, from Oct. 1 through Dec. 23.
The hourly wage is 12,250 won, with average monthly pre-tax earnings of around 2.7 million won including meal allowances and weekly holiday pay. Workers will also be enrolled in the four major social insurance programs.
Applicants must be South Korean nationals aged 18 or older. Veterans, people with disabilities, basic livelihood recipients and other vulnerable groups will receive preferential points.
The application deadline is 6 p.m. Tuesday. Applications are accepted only through the dedicated recruitment website; in-person and postal submissions are not allowed.
Final selections will be announced Sept. 15 following document screening and interviews. Collection of non-tax revenue had previously been handled by more than 4,500 agencies under some 300 individual laws, but the National Tax Service is moving to consolidate that function under a single authority this year. The first round of hiring in May, which sought 3,000 workers, drew an average of 4.6 applicants per position.
The agency also announced Tuesday an additional posting for 62 unfilled positions in its national tax delinquency management unit recruited earlier this month. Workers in that unit are required to work six hours a day.
The National Tax Service said the verification drive is expected to produce five benefits: advancing tax justice, securing fiscal revenue, creating jobs, resolving delinquencies and linking debtors to welfare services.
"We plan to build a field-centered delinquency management system and lead a major transformation in delinquency management — evolving beyond a tax collection agency into an integrated fiscal revenue body driving national fiscal innovation," the agency said.
oskymoon@heraldcorp.com
