Actor Kim Seon-ho set up a one-person agency and is belatedly undergoing closure procedures. Coincidentally belonging to the same agency as singer and actor Cha Eun-woo, who is embroiled in allegations of 20 billion won in tax evasion, has raised further suspicion. We examined what is similar and different.
On the 1st, agency Fantagio told OSEN, "Currently Kim Seon-ho is active under an exclusive contract with Fantagio and in his personal name, and he is faithfully complying with legal and tax procedures related to the current contractual relationship and activities. We make clear that there are no issues related to the contract and activities between Kim Seon-ho and Fantagio," the agency said in an official statement.
They added, "The one-person corporation mentioned in reports was established for theater production and theater-related activities, and it was never established for the deliberate purpose of tax avoidance or tax evasion. However, after moving to Fantagio, actual business activity did not take place from about a year ago, and it is currently undergoing closure procedures in accordance with relevant laws and procedures. The company will continue to comply with relevant laws and procedures in all activities and will do its best to ensure the actor's activities continue without unnecessary misunderstanding," the agency said.
Coincidentally, Fantagio is the company to which Cha Eun-woo, who was notified of an additional tax assessment of around 20 billion won and is suspected of the highest amount of tax evasion among entertainers, belongs. There are suspicions that the agency must have been involved for Cha Eun-woo's tax evasion controversy to have occurred. With the revelation of another agency artist Kim Seon-ho's one-person agency, the same tax evasion suspicions have been raised. However, Fantagio has strongly denied Kim Seon-ho's tax evasion allegations. We looked at what is similar and different between Cha Eun-woo and Kim Seon-ho.
First, Kim Seon-ho's one-person agency did not enter into a separate payment contract with Fantagio. This is exactly why Fantagio asserts that "there are no issues related to the contract and activities."
In Cha Eun-woo's case, a family corporation was involved as a contracting party in addition to Fantagio and his personal contract. The National Tax Service viewed the settlement payments received not personally by Cha Eun-woo but by the family corporation as tax evasion through a paper company and notified an additional tax assessment of 20 billion won for that portion.
On the other hand, Kim Seon-ho's one-person agency did not have a separate settlement payment contract with Fantagio. Therefore, it would be impossible to apply ambiguous tax treatment between tax saving and tax evasion through different income tax rates for individuals and corporations.
However, the fact that family members are registered as corporate directors and auditors similarly fuels suspicion. Usually, a board composed solely of family members without outside professional managers is understood as a way to pay corporate funds to family members as salaries and to operate flexibly. In fact, Kim Seon-ho's father was registered as an inside director and his mother as an auditor. Moreover, the fact that the corporate address is the same as Kim Seon-ho's residence also raised suspicions.
According to Fantagio, Kim Seon-ho's one-person agency was established in January 2024 before meeting the agency, for the purpose of his theater performances and production. However, after signing a contract with Fantagio, the one-person agency was not actually operated and underwent closure procedures. At the time the one-person agency was established, Kim Seon-ho was performing in the play "Finding Happiness" while signed with his former agency Salt Entertainment, but he did not proceed with separate plays afterward. The new play "Secret Passage," which opens on the 13th, is his first performance in two years.
However, this actually increases suspicion that the one-person agency might have been used as a means to gift the company to pay salaries to family members even without substantive operation. The belated step of preparing closure procedures is also read as an unclear explanation.
Putting these controversies aside, Kim Seon-ho finished filming the new TVING drama "In the Net," based on the novel "Mangnaein," and the Disney+ original "Hyeonsok" is also about to wrap. He was even scheduled to appear in the new drama "May the lawmaker protect you." Attention is focused on whether the suspicions surrounding the one-person agency can be resolved. <
[Photo] OSEN DB.
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