Singer and actor Cha Eun-woo was notified of a retrospective tax bill of 20 billion won, and even excluding him, the amount of retrospective tax levied on entertainment agencies over the past five years reached 69 billion won.
On the 15th, Park Min-gyu, a member of the National Assembly's Budget and Economy Planning Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, submitted data received from the National Tax Service showing that from 2020 to 2024, over five years, tax audits targeting companies registered in the popular culture and arts planning business totaled 104 cases, and the assessed tax amount totaled 69 billion won.
The number of objections to tax audits for companies registered in the popular culture and arts planning business also totaled 54 cases, rising from four cases in 2020 to 19 cases in 2024. The amount of disputed claims also surged from 8.119 billion won in 2020 to 30.395 billion won in 2024. In terms of assessed tax amounts, the figure drew attention as it surged to as much as 30.3 billion won in 2024, a 7.8-fold increase from the previous year.
Even more, this figure does not include Cha Eun-woo's recently publicized retrospective tax bill of around 20 billion won. Cha Eun-woo was notified by the National Tax Service in January of a retrospective tax bill of 20 billion won. It drew more attention as the highest amount among retrospective tax bills for entertainers in history.
At the time, the National Tax Service said Cha Eun-woo split income with a family corporation headed by his mother in addition to Fantagio, and considered that the corporation was effectively a paper company that did not actually provide talent agency services. However, Cha Eun-woo's side countered that the retrospective tax amount has not been finally determined and that there is room for legal interpretation to be disputed.
This highlights the growing differences in tax law interpretation between the industry and tax authorities. In particular, for single-person agencies, there are no clear standards regarding establishment requirements and revenue distribution structures, which is interpreted as causing more frequent differences in tax law interpretation. In this regard, tax authorities view single-person agencies as de facto unclear corporate entities used to avoid personal income tax. However, entertainment agencies argue that unclear taxation criteria for single-person agencies create confusion.
Therefore, the need for more specific detailed taxation standards for companies registered in the popular culture and arts planning business is emerging. Rather than repeating disputes caused by the absence of taxation standards, it appears necessary to establish institutional measures that encourage faithful tax payment.
[Photo] OSEN DB.
[OSEN]