Incheon International Airport Corp. was ordered to pay up to 228.8 billion won ($221 million) in back taxes over the past five years, according to the National Tax Service.

The taxation authority asked the airport to pay an extra tax of 106.8 billion won in 2008 and 122 billion won in 2013 through two separate tax investigations.

It is very rare for a public enterprise to be ordered to pay a colossal amount of extra tax after an NTS investigation.

The nation’s top airport operator appealed against the two tax investigations, taking the cases to court.

Last year, the company launched a lawsuit against the extra tax payment order in 2008 and won back part of the extra tax paid. It said it would take the same path to appeal against the result of 2013 tax investigation.

“The partial return of the tax payment might imply that the public enterprise was a target for tax investigation. However, the fact that it had been charged billions of won in taxes twice means that it needs to improve transparency in management,” industry sources said.

(hjlee0301@heraldcorp.com)