Singer and actor Cha Eun-woo, embroiled in a huge controversy over allegations of 20 billion won in tax evasion, drew a line regarding the release date of his starring Netflix series "Wonderfuls," saying, "It has not been confirmed as May 15."
On the 11th, a Netflix representative told OSEN, "All that has been announced is that 'Wonderfuls' will be released in the second quarter of this year; the release date has never been confirmed as May 15," and added, "We are still discussing the release date."
That day, one media outlet reported that 'Wonderfuls' would be released on May 15 regardless of Cha Eun-woo's tax evasion controversy, but Netflix quickly denied it, saying, "That is not true."
Earlier, before enlisting in July last year, Cha Eun-woo underwent a high-intensity investigation by the Seoul Regional Tax Service Investigation Division 4 on charges of tax evasion and was notified of a tax reassessment exceeding 20 billion won. This is the largest reassessment levied on an entertainer to date.
The tax agency determined that company A, established by Cha Eun-woo's mother, had signed a service contract with his agency Fantagio but was a paper company that did not provide substantial services. In fact, company A's registered address was an eel restaurant on Ganghwado, which was found to be unsuitable for 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 by 45 percent, applying a corporate tax rate more than 20 percentage points lower than the individual income tax rate as a scheme. In addition, the tax invoices Fantagio received from company A were deemed false tax invoices, and taxes of 8.2 billion won were imposed. After being notified of a reassessment exceeding 20 billion won, Cha Eun-woo is contesting the tax agency's decision and awaiting the results of the preassessment review before taxation.
Initially, the National Tax Service's investigation targeted agency Fantagio, but the controversy erupted when Cha Eun-woo's company A was detected during the process. As a result, Fantagio was notified of an 8.2 billion won tax reassessment, and company A, including Cha Eun-woo, was notified of a 20 billion won reassessment. Cha Eun-woo has reportedly retained Sejong, one of Korea's five major law firms, and Fantagio has retained the major law firm YulChon to respond.
Meanwhile, 'Wonderfuls' is a supernatural comic action-adventure set in 1999, when apocalyptic beliefs were on the rise, about a group of bumbling locals who gain superpowers from an unexpected incident and fight villains threatening the peace of Haeseong City. It is directed by Yoo In-sik of "Extraordinary Attorney Woo," and the screenplay is by Heo Da-joong, who adapted "Extreme Job." Park Eunbin plays Eun Chaeni, who suddenly gains superpowers after becoming entangled in an unforeseen incident, and Cha Eun-woo plays Lee Woonjeong, a specially recruited Haeseong City public servant who approaches a series of mysterious disappearances with suspicion.
[Photo] OSEN DB, provided by Netflix
[OSEN]