The National Tax Service has confirmed that it has begun a tax investigation into MBK Partners. MBK Partners maintains that this is a regular investigation conducted every five years, but the tax industry speculates that it could be an irregular tax investigation considering the Homeplus incident.
According to the tax industry on the 12th, the Seoul Regional Tax Service's Investigation Bureau 4 has dispatched employees to MBK Partners to conduct a tax investigation starting from that day.
An official from MBK Partners acknowledged the ongoing tax investigation, stating, "I understand that this is a regular tax investigation occurring five years after 2020." The official also noted, "I understand that this is unrelated to the recent issues concerning Homeplus's corporate rehabilitation application."
The tax industry is paying attention to the fact that this tax investigation of MBK Partners is being conducted by the Seoul Regional Tax Service's Investigation Bureau 4.
Investigation Bureau 4, known as the 'grim reaper of corporations,' specializes in special tax investigations and irregular tax audits. Regular tax investigations are handled by Investigation Bureau 1, among others.
MBK Partners has been recovering its invested capital over the past 10 years by repaying debts through the sale of Homeplus stores and receiving dividends. However, as Homeplus fell into a management crisis, it applied for corporate rehabilitation procedures without any self-rescue efforts, leading to controversy over 'eating and run.'
There is also a moral hazard controversy regarding the issuance of corporate paper (CP) to investors just before Homeplus applied for rehabilitation procedures.
During last year's National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee's audit, allegations of MBK Partners' offshore tax evasion came to light. At that time, Democratic Party lawmaker Kang Seon-woo pointed out that "Chairman Kim Byung-joo of MBK earned 2 trillion won but didn't pay any income tax in the country as a U.S. citizen, prompting civic groups to file a complaint for offshore tax evasion," adding, "He is being accused of making money in the country and paying taxes in the U.S."