Interior ministry to let citizens claim local tax refunds through private apps

The interior ministry said Thursday it will link local tax refund services to private apps such as Kakao and banking apps from December, letting citizens check whether they are owed money and claim it without visiting a government website.

The ministry signed an agreement on the same day with the Korean Association of Provincial Governors, the association of mayors, county heads and district chiefs, the Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute, and a group of card companies, banks and platform operators. BC Card, Samsung Card's monimo, Shinhan Bank, IBK Industrial Bank, iM Bank, NongHyup Bank, Kakao, KakaoBank and KakaoPay are among the participants.

Until now, taxpayers had to contact their local government directly or log on separately to the Wetax website to find out whether a refund had been issued, and could claim payment only by bank transfer.

Under the new arrangement, a user's local tax refund information held by regional governments will be connected to the services of the payments institute and the private companies through the ministry's digital service opening project. The ministry said it will carry out system development and the connections between institutions in time to launch the service in December.

Refunds will also be payable as e-money from BC Card, Samsung Card and KakaoPay, alongside the existing bank transfer option. The e-money offerings are BC Card's Paybook Money, Samsung Card's Monimo Money and KakaoPay Money.

"This local tax refund inquiry and payment service is meaningful in that it combines administrative information held by the public sector with private digital technology and services to create changes that citizens can feel in their daily lives," Interior Minister Youn Ho-jung said. He added that the ministry will continue working with the private sector to build easy and convenient tax and administrative services.