Article 22-4Official Inspection, Search, Seizure, etc.

①When necessary to investigate a criminal tax case, the competent tax collection official may, under a warrant issued in advance by a judge of the district court or summary court having jurisdiction over the location of the office of the local government to which the official belongs, conduct an official inspection, a search of the person, articles, residence or other place of a suspect, etc., a seizure of articles considered to be evidence or articles subject to confiscation, or a seizure with a recording order (meaning ordering a person who retains electronic or magnetic records or another person with authority to use electronic or magnetic records to record necessary electronic or magnetic records on a recording medium or print them out, and then seizing that recording medium; the same applies hereinafter in this Section); provided, however, that with regard to the person, articles, residence or other place of a witness, a search may be conducted only where there are circumstances sufficient to find that articles to be seized exist.

②Where the article to be seized is a computer, the competent tax collection official may, after copying electronic or magnetic records onto that computer or another recording medium from a recording medium connected to that computer by a telecommunications line that is in circumstances sufficient to find that it is being used to retain electronic or magnetic records created or modified by that computer, or electronic or magnetic records that can be modified or erased by that computer, seize that computer or that other recording medium.

③In the cases of the preceding two paragraphs, where urgency is required, the competent tax collection official may take the dispositions in the preceding two paragraphs under a warrant issued in advance by a judge of the district court or summary court having jurisdiction over the location of the articles or place to be inspected, the person, articles or place to be searched, the articles to be seized, or the person who is to have electronic or magnetic records recorded or printed out.

④When requesting a warrant under paragraph (1) or the preceding paragraph (except in Article 22-19, paragraphs (4) and (5), hereinafter in this Subsection referred to as a "warrant"), the competent tax collection official must provide materials showing that a criminal tax case exists.

⑤When a request under the preceding paragraph has been made, a judge of the district court or summary court must deliver to the competent tax collection official a warrant stating the name of the suspect (for a corporation, its name), the name of the offense, the articles or place to be inspected, the person, articles or place to be searched, the articles to be seized, or the electronic or magnetic records to be recorded or printed out and the person who is to have them recorded or printed out, the official title and name of the requester, the validity period, a statement that execution may not be commenced after the expiration of that period and the warrant must be returned, the date of issuance, and the name of the court, bearing the judge's own name and seal.

⑥In the case of paragraph (2), a judge of the district court or summary court must state in the warrant, in addition to the matters prescribed in the preceding paragraph, the scope of the recording media connected by a telecommunications line to the computer to be seized from which electronic or magnetic records are to be copied.

⑦The competent tax collection official may deliver a warrant to another competent tax collection official of the local government to which the official belongs and have that official conduct the official inspection, search, seizure or seizure with a recording order.