Singer and actor Cha Eun-woo bowed his head and apologized over allegations of tax evasion, and questions have arisen about why he paid 13 billion won now.
Earlier, on the 8th Cha Eun-woo posted his position on his personal SNS and said, "I respect the National Tax Service's procedures and results, and to prevent further confusion I have paid all related taxes. I will also sincerely participate in the remaining procedures," conveying his apology.
Cha Eun-woo blamed himself for issues such as the problematic establishment of a corporation and emphasized, "If there were parts I did not sufficiently examine, all responsibility lies with me. I will not avoid responsibility by saying I 'didn't know' or that it was 'someone else's decision' for any reason."
Some people responded critically and suspiciously, saying, "If you were going to pay like this anyway, why didn't you pay sooner and instead hold out and play a power game?", "Why did you avoid responsibility and drag things out?", "Did you try to find a method, fail, and then pay with tears?"
However, OSEN's reporting on the 9th found that in this case the system did not allow taxes to be paid in advance even if one wanted to. Payment could only be made once a bill was issued, and because a bill had not been issued until recently even Cha Eun-woo himself could not know the confirmed amount of "13 billion". The widely reported "200 billion in tax evasion" was only an estimated amount, not a confirmed figure.
The pre-assessment review is not a procedure judged by a simple win-or-lose concept but a process determined by whether a claim is accepted. While that procedure is ongoing, the amount of tax to be paid is not finalized, so even if one wanted to pay, payment was not possible. Cha Eun-woo's side only recently received the bill according to the review result and immediately completed payment. There was no intentional delay of the result or deliberate postponement of payment.
Many other entertainers were also embroiled in tax evasion controversies, and in most cases related articles were reported around the time the pre-assessment review results came out. But in Cha Eun-woo's case, an unusually early article broke earlier this year, and the "estimated 20 billion won" figure became fixed in the public mind as if it were confirmed, magnifying the fallout. Above all, it is a fact that he did not hold out to avoid paying taxes and only pay 13 billion now; rather, he had been waiting because he had not received a bill showing the confirmed amount.
Cha Eun-woo's side explained that they never deliberately postponed payment and once again apologized and bowed their heads over the series of events.
On that day Cha Eun-woo's agency Fantagio said, "Some of the payment amount will be adjusted through the National Tax Service's refund procedures, and through our accountant we were informed that the actual burden will be about 13 billion won," and issued an official statement saying, "With the full payment of personal income tax, there is a procedure to receive refunds for parts of corporate tax and value-added taxes that were doubly taxed."
[Photo] OSEN DB
[OSEN]