The National Tax Service recently announced on the 6th that it has detected tax evasion activities of 'Excel Broadcasting' broadcasters, who have seen a surge in viewers, centered around the online media platform 'Sop (formerly Afreeca)', and will commence a tax audit.
Excel Broadcasting refers to programs where participating broadcasters perform suggestive acts (such as dancing or undressing) according to viewer donations and display ranking of donations similar to an Excel document, encouraging a competition for donations. Due to the high level of suggestiveness, it is also referred to as a 'cyber room salon.' Popular broadcasters earn over 20 billion won annually while operating such programs. 'Commander Jiko' (real name Park Kwang-woo), known as the top Excel Broadcasting broadcaster, claimed on his broadcast that his annual revenue alone amounts to 30 billion won, even verifying it with his stock account.
According to the National Tax Service, the nine broadcasters subject to this tax audit exaggeratedly reported the grants paid to the participating broadcasters contrary to the facts or paid fabricated labor costs to family members. It was also detected that some of the grants paid to the participating broadcasters were partially received back in a rebate manner.
There are also allegations that high-priced luxury goods purchase expenses were processed as business expenses to reduce tax reporting.
In the case of some adult broadcasters who transmitted personal broadcasts through overseas adult platforms, it was revealed that they received revenue settled from the platform in accounts under family names and concealed it.
The National Tax Service will also conduct a tax audit on three 'cyber wreckers' who are expanding their activity radius while concealing their identities on the YouTube platform.
The cyber wreckers subject to this tax audit did not report donations and advertising revenue received in personal accounts and used them for asset appreciation such as purchasing real estate. They disguised non-existent outsourcing service fees and rental costs as if they were genuinely paid and reported multiple high-end imported vehicles used for personal purposes as business vehicles.
Tax audits will also be conducted on five operators of gambling sites who misused deepfake images of celebrities. After establishing the company, they disguised expenditures related to operating online gambling establishments, which are not recognized as business expenses under tax law, as normal business expenses of a corporation, thus evading taxes. It was revealed that they received gambling funds in multiple accounts under different names, leading a lavish lifestyle that included purchasing large commercial properties, luxury cars, and high-priced watches.
A National Tax Service official noted that 'Excel Broadcasting' broadcasters create content reminiscent of entertainment businesses, referred to as a 'cyber room salon,' corrupting one-person media into a den of degradation, and commercialize female broadcasters to induce excessive donations from viewers. They pointed out that cyber wreckers, disregarding damages to the honor or personal rights of victims, indiscriminately expose unverified facts and individuals' private lives solely for financial gain while avoiding legal and moral responsibilities.
The official added that 'this tax audit will be rigorously conducted using all available means to verify the compliance in reporting of harmful content providers who have unethically accumulated revenue,' and 'we will closely inspect the appropriateness of reported income from super chats and personal account donations of YouTubers and the sales revenue of businesses disguised as secondhand transactions on social media, as well as the income from influencers' behind-the-scenes advertising.'