Exchange of Account Information to Ferret Out Tax Dodgers

Starting in 2017, at least 53 countries, including Korea, Britain, Germany and France, will automatically exchange financial information about taxpayers. In 2018, Japan, Canada and other countries will join, pushing up the number of participating countries to 100, government officials said.

This means the National Tax Service will be able to regularly receive detailed information about the accounts opened and held by Koreans, individuals and businesses, throughout the world. The system will deal a heavy blow to those who open and manage accounts at foreign banks in order to hide their properties to avoid paying taxes.

According to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance officials, among the information providers are such tax shelters as Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and the Virgin Islands.

The exchange of information is in accordance with the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement concluded in 2014.

The new system will affect all bank accounts held by individuals. In the case of business corporations, it will affect the existing accounts with deposits of $250,000 and more, and...