Koreans' Overseas Tax Haven Account Balance Surpasses 2.5 Tril. Won

SEOUL, KOREA- The aggregate balance of bank accounts in overseas tax havens held by Korean corporations and individuals is in excess of 2.5 trillion won. According to the National Tax Service on August 20, the number of corporations and individuals who voluntarily reported that they have held account balance more than 1 billion won more than one day last year in overseas financial accounts (with banks and securities firms) was 678, up 4.0 percent from the previous year's 652. Their reported balance was 22.8 trillion won, up 22.8 percent from 18.6 trillion won in 2011.

Of this, the total volume of money deposited in 13 locations designated as tax havens was 2.5 trillion won (10.9% in total reported amount) in 789 accounts. The top-five tax havens for Korean nationals included Singapore, Bahrain, Switzerland, the Philippines, and Belgium. For example, Singaporean financial institutions held a total of 1,855.7 billion won, including 165.3 billion won by individuals and 1,690.4 billion won by corporations.

Of the 678 entities who reported foreign financial accounts surpassing 1 billion won in balance (including tax haven and non-tax haven locations), 310 were individuals whose average account balance was 8 billion won and 368 were corporations who held an average of 47.1 billion won per account.

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