Approximately 111 trillion won in overseas assets have been reported by residents and domestic corporations to the National Tax Service. The amount of overseas stocks reported surged to a record 61.3 trillion won, driven by the listing of overseas subsidiaries and rising stock valuations.
On September 2, the National Tax Service announced the results of overseas financial account and trust declarations submitted in June of this year. The reported amount for overseas financial accounts was 107.1 trillion won, while the newly reported overseas trusts totaled 3.7671 trillion won.
The reported amount for overseas financial accounts increased by 12.6 trillion won (13.3%) from last year's 94.5 trillion won. Following a 45.6% increase from 64.9 trillion won in 2024, this marks the second consecutive year of double-digit growth. The number of reporters, including individuals and corporations, rose by 9.1% to 7,484.
This overseas financial account reporting targeted residents and domestic corporations whose total account balances exceeded 500 million won on any day at the end of the month last year.
Stocks were the primary driver of the overall increase in reported amounts. The reported amount for overseas stocks reached 61.3 trillion won, up 13.2 trillion won (27.4%) from last year's 48.1 trillion won. This accounted for 57.2% of the total overseas financial account reporting.
The reported amount for corporate overseas stocks increased from 41.3 trillion won last year to 53.1 trillion won this year. The National Tax Service attributed this growth to the listings and rising stock valuations of overseas subsidiaries in countries such as India, the United States, and Taiwan.
A total of 2,356 individuals reported overseas stocks worth 8.2 trillion won, an increase in both the number of reporters and the reported amount compared to last year's 1,896 individuals and 6.9 trillion won. Notably, 7 trillion won, or 85.3% of the individual overseas stock reporting, was held in U.S. accounts.
Excluding virtual asset accounts, the reported amount for overseas financial accounts by country showed the United States leading with 29.7 trillion won. India followed with a reported amount of 28.9 trillion won, an increase of 7.2 trillion won from the previous year. Although only 113 individuals held Indian accounts, they accounted for 27% of the total reported amount.
The reported amount for virtual assets decreased. The number of reporters rose by 1.8% to 2,362, but the reported amount fell from 11.1 trillion won to 10.5 trillion won, a decline of 5.4%. The National Tax Service analyzed that the overall drop in virtual asset prices contributed to this decrease.
Among the new reporters who had no previous reporting history, 2,380 individuals accounted for 31.8% of the total. They reported overseas financial accounts totaling 6.4 trillion won, with stocks amounting to 2.8 trillion won and the United States being the leading country with 2.3 trillion won.
In the newly implemented overseas trust reporting, 1,255 individuals and 31 corporations submitted a total of 1,591 cases, amounting to 3.7671 trillion won. While individuals made up 97.6% of the reporters, corporations held 81% of the reported amount, totaling 3.0497 trillion won. This was influenced by asset management firms and shipping companies managing large funds in trust forms, including bonds and funds.
The reported amount for individuals' overseas trusts was 717.4 billion won, with stocks being the largest asset at 194.6 billion won, followed by real estate at 191.6 billion won and cash at 107.9 billion won. Hong Kong had the highest number of reported cases at 758, while the United States accounted for about 3 trillion won, or 80% of the total amount.
The National Tax Service plans to verify any omissions in overseas asset reporting using international information exchange data and foreign exchange transaction data. It intends to respond strictly to any unreported or underreported cases by imposing relevant taxes and penalties.
Starting next year, automatic exchange of virtual asset transaction information between countries will be implemented to utilize the information received from treaty countries for verification. The tax law amendment for this year includes a proposal to raise the penalty limit for unreported overseas trusts from 100 million won to 1 billion won and to establish a reporting reward system.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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