Actor Lee Min Ho denied allegations of tax evasion.
Lee Min Ho’s agency MYM Entertainment said in an official statement on March 2nd, “We and Lee Min Ho have paid taxes faithfully so far” adding, “The current situation is caused by differences in interpretation of whether compensation for the use of illegal portrait rights is taxable.” It is argued that additional taxes were incurred due to errors in handling corporate expenses.
According to Ajou Economy, the investigation bureau of the Seoul Regional Tax Service launched a special tax investigation against Lee Min Ho and MYM Entertainment in September 2020 and imposed a fine of hundreds of millions of won.
The additional fine has been paid. “At that time, we received damages for Lee Min Ho’s use of portrait rights,” the agency said. “The tax agent did not see this damage as profit, but the National Tax Service decided that it should be regarded as full profit and paid taxes.”
Recently, the National Tax Service conducted tax audits on 84 people, including entertainers, athletes, webtoon writers, and YouTubers. Actors Kim Tae Hee, Lee Byung Hun and Kwon Sang Woo were charged with fines, raising suspicion of tax evasion. Most of these celebrities are in the position where they paid an additional fine, saying that it occurred due to an accounting error.
Source:(A)
Accounting is creativity with laws, regulations and numbers. Often down to interpretation.