Actor Lee Ha-nee, Yoo Yeon-seok, and Lee Joon-gi have been followed by Jo Jin-woong, who also received a notification of tax collection amounting to hundreds of millions.
Jo Jin-woong's agency, People Entertainment, stated on the 22nd through an official statement that "During the regular tax audit process, approximately 1.1 billion won in taxes was imposed, and we respect the tax authority's decision and have paid the full amount."
The agency clarified that this tax collection was not due to intentional tax evasion but resulted from differences in the interpretation of tax laws. They explained that Jo Jin-woong has diligently reported and paid corporate taxes in a general manner through a corporation he founded, but the tax authority regarded the revenue as personal income and deemed it subject to income tax.
People Entertainment explained, "This incident arose from differences in the interpretation and application of laws between the tax representative and the tax authorities, and it is a contentious issue that varies among experts and academia," adding, "The tax authority's judgment differs from existing tax practices, so we have filed a petition with the Tax Tribunal, and the hearing is currently underway."
Recently, the tax authorities have begun to re-examine the practice of entertainers paying taxes through revenue management via corporations, resulting in a series of related tax collections. Previously, actor Lee Ha-nee received a notification of tax collection of about 6 billion won, Yoo Yeon-seok received 7 billion won, and Lee Joon-gi received 900 million won.