South Korea's national tax office said Thursday its chief is attending a meeting of top tax officials from leading industrialized economies on tackling offshore tax evasion.

Han Seung-hee, commissioner of the National Tax Service, is now in Oslo to participate in the 11th meeting of tax chiefs from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that kicked off in the Norwegian capital Wednesday for a three-day run.

The conference brings together the top tax officials from 35 OECD members, Group of 20 major economies, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia, as well as representatives from the International Monetary Fund and other agencies.
 

The NTS said Han had held in-depth discussions with participants on how to deal with offshore tax evasion and implement the so-called base erosion and profit shift project.

The OECD-led project is comprised of 15 tasks aimed at preventing large international corporations from evading taxes in offshore centers. BEPS refers to tax avoidance strategies employed by multinational companies that erode a country's tax base.

Starting next year, tax authorities of about 60 countries will exchange country reports listing multinationals' profits and tax payments as part of efforts to help prevent offshore tax evasion.

On the fringes of the OECD conference, Han had one-on-one meetings with his counterparts from the United States, Germany, Switzerland, Japan and other participating countries, the NTS said. In particular, Han had discussions with his American counterpart John Koskinen on holding an annual high-level tax meeting.

Han also called on the tax chiefs of China, India, Indonesia and Canada to help resolve the issue of double taxation facing South Korean companies operating in those countries, the tax service said. (Yonhap)