South Korean tax officials probing suspicions of tax evasion have raided the offices of several foreign funds that invest billions of dollars here, financial sources said yesterday.
Auditors from the National Tax Service (NTS) have been carrying out sweeping probes into seven foreign funds since Tuesday, reports said.
NIS officials and foreign funds declined to comment on the reported tax audit but financial industry sources confirmed tax officials have seized documents from several foreign groups.
Yonhap news agency said the seven foreign funds reportedly targeted include US-based Newbridge Capital, Carlyle Group and Lone Star as well as the Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC).
The tax probe comes amid growing complaints among foreign investors that South Korea is taking a hostile policy towards them and offshore entities who are based in tax havens and use tax treaties to avoid tax legally.
Seoul introduced new regulations last month under which any shareholder acquiring more than 5 percent of a company here is required to disclose whether they intend to influence the company's management.
All investors also have to declare their legal status and management structure, the name of their largest backers and how they raised the capital for their investment.
Foreign investors say the new requirements are aimed at tightening control on them but South Korean officials say they are to be applied fairly to both domestic and foreign investors, and is aimed at enhancing transparency.
Defenders of the foreign funds say they took on high-risk investments at a time when South Korean investors were unwilling to do so and saved or created thousands of jobs and boosted the country's economy.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
The number of Chinese spouses applying for dependent residency as well as long-term residency in Taiwan has decreased, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that the reduction of Chinese spouses staying or living in Taiwan is only one facet reflecting the general decrease in the number of people willing to get married in Taiwan. The number of Chinese spouses applying for dependent residency last year was 7,123, down by 2,931, or 29.15 percent, from the previous year. The same census showed that the number of Chinese spouses applying for long-term residency and receiving approval last year stood at 2,973, down 1,520,
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