Lee Ha-nee, who has evaded 6 billion won, evaded tax, and confirmed no...To make a positive explanation (Full Story)
Mar 07, 2025
|
Lee Ha-nee's agency Timhoff announced on the 7th the timing and reason for the establishment of the corporation, the results of the 2024 tax audit, the double taxation of corporate tax and personal income tax, and the current status of taxation.
First of all, regarding the timing and reason of establishing the corporation "In addition to Lee Ha-nui's acting as an actor under management, the Hope Project (hereinafter referred to as the corporation) was established in 2015 for various activities such as Korean traditional music performances, content development, production, and investment.", he explained.
The results of the tax investigation conducted last year clearly state that no tax evasion or evasion, such as omission of income reporting or false security accounting, were found during the investigation as part of the "incorporate business artist irregular integrated planning tax investigation (five-year period subject to investigation)."," he said, sticking to his original position.
Double taxation of corporate tax and personal income tax "The tax office interpreted that the profits of entertainment activities of artists with corporate business owners should not be subject to corporate tax payment as corporate income, but to income tax as personal income."
Accordingly, "personal income tax has been re-imposed on the amount that has been reported and paid with corporate income through a tax agent"."
As a result of this, the current taxable status was "As a result, double taxation and additional taxes on the same income were incurred, and significantly more than the maximum tax rate was applied under the tax law".
He emphasized that "The re-taxation disposition has not been finalized" and added "We plan to actively clarify the issue of double taxation and legal interpretation through legal procedures in the future."
Lee Ha-nee is also embroiled in allegations of purchasing large amounts of real estate in a short period of time, even though a corporation with a large amount of tax of about 6 billion won to the National Tax Service started with small capital through a high-intensity tax investigation in September last year.
The agency said on the 17th that Lee Ha-nui received a tax investigation at the Seoul Regional Tax Office last year on the irregular integrated planning of corporate business artists and paid additional taxes in the process" he once said.
The following is the full entry of Lee Ha-nee's agency.
Explanation of the results of the tax audit
Actor Lee Ha-nee has established and operated the Hope Project (hereinafter referred to as a corporation) to carry out various activities such as Korean traditional music performances, content development, production, and investment that cannot be performed or managed by management, in addition to acting activities. As an actor, income generated from entertainment activities has been reported, including as profits of the corporation, and has faithfully paid corporate tax in order to separate business property or rights and obligations from individual property or rights and obligations.
Recently, in the course of the 「Corporate Business Artist Non-regular Planning and Tax Audit」, there was an interpretation from the tax office that even if Lee Ha-nui's entertainment activities paid all corporate taxes as corporate sales, the income should be subject to income taxes as personal income, not corporate income. As a result, additional income tax was imposed, and Lee Ha-nui paid it in full.
In the process, Lee Ha-nee was applied by the tax office to the general penalty rate applied to tax interpretation or simple mistakes, not to the high penalty rate applied when there is fraud for tax evasion (false records of books, concealment of data destruction income, etc.).
In general, when a taxpayer is found to be accused of attempting to evade taxes by cheating during a tax audit, the general tax audit is converted into a tax offense investigation and is subject to a more intensive investigation. However, Lee Ha-nee's investigation was completed with the imposition of income tax without a tax offense investigation.
I would like to clarify that no tax evasion or evasion, such as missing income reports or false expenses related to entertainment activities, were found during the investigation period.
General Taxation Method for Corporate Business
In the case of operating a target business of a corporation itself, it is a common tax law application method to pay corporate tax rather than personal income tax on income generated from the business. The profits generated by Lee Ha-nee's entertainment activities were also reported as corporate profits according to the general tax processing method and paid corporate tax.
In addition, funds attributable to the corporation cannot be used personally by Lee Ha-nui, and to use them for personal purposes, funds must be received from the corporation in the form of salaries or dividends. Since income tax is imposed again in this process, receiving income through corporations is not a way to reduce taxes, but rather a structure in which both corporate and income taxes are imposed, increasing the overall tax burden.
In fact, Lee Ha-nee is paying income tax normally by receiving a salary from a corporation.
Occurrence of double taxation related to the amount of tax to be announced
As mentioned earlier, personal income tax has already been imposed on the amount of tax paid by reporting it as corporate income, and the process does not reflect the previously paid tax, resulting in double taxation on the same income. As a result, an amount significantly exceeding the maximum tax rate under the tax law was imposed. More than half of the amount reported in the media is equivalent to double taxation and additional taxes.
Future plans
As explained above, the imposition of income tax based on the results of this tax audit stems from differences in the interpretation of the law on whether the income of artists with corporate business operators should be paid in corporate tax or income tax. In respect of the disposition of the customs office, Lee Ha-nee paid the full amount of taxes that significantly exceeded the maximum tax rate under the tax law. Currently, the taxation disposition has not been finalized, and in the future, we will appoint a tax law firm to seek legal judgment and actively explain the application of double taxation and legal interpretation through legal procedures.
As a Korean citizen, Lee Ha-nee has fulfilled her duty to pay taxes in compliance with laws and procedures, and will continue to faithfully fulfill her duty to pay taxes.
rightlight@sportschosun.com
