Webtoon author Yaong-i (real name Kim Na-young), who was embroiled in a tax evasion controversy, won a court ruling after contesting the National Tax Service's imposition of value-added taxes.
According to a report by Weekly Chosun on the 27th, in June the Tax Tribunal decided to accept the appeal against the National Tax Service's value-added tax assessment on Kim. As a result, Yaong-i will receive back value-added taxes of several hundred million won levied from the second half of 2018 through the first half of 2022.
Earlier, Yaong-i was embroiled in a tax evasion allegation in 2023. At the time, the Seoul Regional Tax Service conducted an integrated tax audit of the corporation owned by Yaong-i. The issue was that Yaong-i provided the webtoon True Beauty to the platform Naver Webtoon, and Naver Webtoon uploaded it to provide and lend it to users.
Yaong-i reported the electronic files of the webtoon as tax-exempt electronic publications and did not report value-added taxes, but the Seoul Regional Tax Service treated them as taxable. The taxpaying corporation provided not the webtoon itself to Naver Webtoon but a "service" corresponding to the copyright license, and therefore it was judged not to be tax-exempt as an electronic publication.
Meanwhile, Yaong-i filed an appeal against the National Tax Service's value-added tax assessment, and the Tax Tribunal ruled in favor of Yaong-i. The tribunal said that if a publication is issued by a publisher under the notice of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, lists author and publisher, and is assigned identification numbers such as ISBN and ISSN, it is tax-exempt. Yaong-i's corporation registered as a publisher during the serialization of True Beauty, and the webtoon has been assigned ISBN and ISSN through Naver Webtoon.
Thus, Yaong-i will receive back value-added taxes amounting to several hundred million won. She said of the decision, "As a citizen of the Republic of Korea, I will continue to faithfully fulfill my tax obligations."
When Yaong-i was embroiled in the tax evasion controversy, she said, "I already underwent a National Tax Service audit of my single-person corporation on Nov. 16, 2022, and I cooperated fully with the investigation, and as a result it was acknowledged that there was no private use of my corporate card or vehicle," but she added, "Some items that were handled incorrectly were taxed. It is clearly my responsibility and a mistake that arose from a lack of care. There is a legal debate about value-added taxes related to the publishing and webtoon industries, and I am actively clarifying the matter with the help of professional accountants."
Her husband, webtoon author Jeon Seon-wook, apologized, saying, "I can say confidently that she never tried to enrich herself alone and has always been someone who thinks of and gives to those around her more than herself. She is not someone who would deliberately act calculatingly for a small gain. My wife and I have both lived our lives drawing comics without knowing much else, so we are learning a lot from this experience. We will keep correcting our shortcomings and strive to become a more grown and mature couple."
After briefly suspending her social media activity, Yaong-i announced in January last year that she was preparing a new work, and she resumed social media in July this year after a year and a half. Last month, in response to a fan message saying, "I heard about the author's news; I'm glad the unfair matters have been resolved. Cheering for you," she replied, "I was the most at fault for being ignorant. From now on I will study a lot, consult experts frequently, and work even harder."
[photo] OSEN DB
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