"soldier" Cha Eun-woo's past actions have been exhumed amid allegations of 20 billion won in tax evasion, and his every move is drawing attention; it was reported that he recently went on leave and has now returned.
On the 26th, OSEN's reporting confirmed that Cha Eun-woo, serving in the military band, took leave earlier this month and then returned. Having been enlisted for about six to seven months, Cha Eun-woo likely took scheduled leave based on the timing, and it is presumed he spent extremely personal time.
The timing when Cha Eun-woo recently took leave came after he was notified by the National Tax Service of a tax assessment exceeding 20 billion won, and just two weeks after he returned to his unit, reports were published, causing a major impact across not only the entertainment industry but society at large.
Currently his agency Fantagio has kept its mouth firmly shut beyond an initial statement, saying "it is difficult to confirm anything," and because Cha Eun-woo is also in military status, he is not free regarding entertainment activities. Nonetheless, given the seriousness of the matter, attention is focused on whether Cha Eun-woo will issue a brief statement through his agency to calm the deteriorating public opinion, or post directly on his personal social media to convey an apology message to disappointed fans.
Meanwhile, before enlisting in July last year Cha Eun-woo underwent intensive investigation by Division 4 of the Seoul Regional Tax Service on suspicion of tax evasion, and was notified of a tax assessment exceeding 20 billion won. This is the largest assessment levied on an entertainer to date.
The National Tax Service judged that company A, established by Cha Eun-woo's mother, had entered into a service contract with his main agency Fantagio but was a paper company that did not provide substantive services. In fact, company A's registered address turned out to be an eel restaurant located on Ganghwa Island, making it somewhat difficult to handle entertainment-related work. It was reported that authorities believe Cha Eun-woo and his mother set up the non-existent company A and distributed income to reduce income tax of up to 45%, applying a corporate tax rate more than 20 percentage points lower than the income tax rate through this scheme. The tax office also treated the tax invoices Fantagio received from company A as false tax invoices and imposed tax of as much as 8.2 billion won.
After being notified of an assessment exceeding 20 billion won, Cha Eun-woo's side is contesting the National Tax Service's decision and awaiting the result of the "pre-taxation adequacy review," and agency Fantagio said, "This matter centers on whether the company established by Cha Eun-woo's mother is subject to substantive taxation, and it is not a matter that has been finally determined and notified; we plan to actively present explanations through proper procedures regarding disputes over legal interpretation and application."
[Photo] OSEN DB
[OSEN]