What must a fact-finding visit to a delinquent taxpayer show? The February 2026 amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the National Tax Collection Act

What changed

The new Article 3-2 governs the fact-finding check that a regional tax office director or the competent tax office head may make under Article 10-2(1) of the Act through a fact-finding officer under paragraph 2 of that Article. Where the officer intends to visit the delinquent taxpayer's address, place of business or the like, the officer must notify the visit plan in advance by telephone or other means, and must show the taxpayer a token indicating authority to make the check (Article 3-2(1)). The regional tax office director or the competent tax office head must train officers in the methods and procedure of the check, tax-related statutes and ordinances, and safety and security during the check (Article 3-2(2)), supply safety equipment and conduct periodic management and inspection of the officers' work and safety (Article 3-2(3)); any further matter needed for the check is set by the Commissioner of the National Tax Service (Article 3-2(4)). The official reason gives the aim as laying a basis for checking the circumstances of taxpayers who do not pay after demand, and fixing the method and procedure of the check.

Article 105(2)(1) defines the case in which the 'prescribed by Presidential Decree' proviso in Article 114(1) of the Act applies, that is, where the payment ratio for delinquent tax calculated by the stated formula is 50/100 or more. The amendment deletes the words 'over the most recent two years' from that item and replaces the formula. The official reason states that the payment period is widened from the two years preceding the year in which the planned disclosure date falls to 1 January of that year through the day before the meeting of the National Tax Information Committee that deliberates whether to disclose the person listed.

The decree also newly adds Article 74-2, which applies the listed provisions of the decree on public sale agency mutatis mutandis, with stated exclusions, when the competent tax office head entrusts the sale of virtual assets under Article 103(1)(v) of the Act to the Korea Asset Management Corporation; adds business registration certificates held by the Commissioner of the National Tax Service, limited to where the Korea Asset Management Corporation checks information, to the information that may be confirmed through shared use of administrative information; and creates Chapter 5 Penal Provisions, Article 108, under which the standards for the fine under Article 116(1) of the Act are those in the annex newly established by this decree.

What to read in the text

Addendum Article 1 puts the decree into force on 1 October 2026, not on the day of promulgation, 27 February 2026. Addendum Article 2 applies the amended Article 105(2)(1) from cases in which the list is disclosed after the decree comes into force. The addendum says nothing else about earlier acts, cases already in progress or other transitional measures.

A file should therefore show the date on which the list is disclosed and the date of the National Tax Information Committee meeting, together with the payment records for the widened period, for the payment ratio to be read under the new wording; and, for a fact-finding visit, the advance notice of the visit plan and the showing of the token of authority. The annex to Article 108, the further matters set by the Commissioner of the National Tax Service under Article 3-2(4), and the decree provisions applied mutatis mutandis by Article 74-2 are not in the pack, and this note has not read them.

Questions for the legislature

Article 3-2(1) requires the officer to 'notify the visit plan in advance by telephone or other means' before visiting an address or place of business, but neither the text, the addendum nor the official reason states how long before the visit that notice must reach the taxpayer. How much advance notice does the provision require, and what record shows that it was given?

This amendment takes effect on 1 October 2026, and the addendum addresses only Article 105(2)(1) as to earlier facts, so nothing answers how a sale of virtual assets already entrusted to the Korea Asset Management Corporation before that date is to proceed. Does such an entrusted sale continue under the rules in force before 1 October 2026, or is a fresh entrustment required?

When to revisit

We revisit this note when the annex to Article 108, the rules the Commissioner of the National Tax Service sets under Article 3-2(4), or the decree provisions on public sale agency that Article 74-2 applies mutatis mutandis are read, or if a court decision explains the advance notice under Article 3-2(1) or the payment period in Article 105(2)(1).