The National Tax Service did not appoint any "celebrity ambassadors" last year, a program it began in 2001. The scenes of celebrity ambassadors appearing in National Tax Service policy promotion posters or public service advertisements have also disappeared.
The National Tax Service is reportedly considering whether to keep the current celebrity ambassador system. National Tax Service Administrator Lim Gwang-hyun was said to have been concerned, since serving as a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker, about the issue of "using famous celebrities for promotion without pay." In addition, as famous celebrities have recently been investigated one after another for tax evasion allegations, public sentiment toward celebrity ambassadors has also turned negative.
◇ Criticism: "Appointing famous celebrities as unpaid ambassadors... isn't this abuse of power?"
Summarizing ChosunBiz reporting on the 1st, the National Tax Service selected celebrity ambassadors every year from 2001 to 2024, but did not do so last year. A National Tax Service official said, "We introduced celebrity ambassadors to promote policy, but there were side effects, so we have been deliberating internally on whether to continue the current system."
Since 2001, the National Tax Service has appointed celebrities selected as exemplary taxpayers on Taxpayer's Day, Mar. 3 each year, as ambassadors. A total of 53 celebrities were selected through 2024. The National Tax Service gave ambassadors benefits such as a deferral of tax audits for two to three years, and in return gained promotional effects by having them grants in policy promotion posters or public service advertisements.
In the National Assembly, criticism was raised over the National Tax Service using famous, high-fee celebrities for policy promotion without pay. In the 2024 National Tax Service audit while serving as a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker, Administrator Lim Gwang-hyun said, "When the National Tax Service asks them to serve as ambassadors, entertainment agencies say it is hard to refuse and that this causes a lot of concern," adding, "This could be seen as abuse of power by an authority, so will you do it again next year?" In response, then-Commissioner Kang Min-soo said, "We will discuss it."
◇ Cha Eun-woo, Lee Ha-nee, Yoo Yeon-seok... public backlash grows amid continuing celebrity tax evasion controversies
As controversies over tax evasion by famous celebrities continue to surface, public sentiment toward celebrity ambassadors has also deteriorated. It recently became known that singer-actor Cha Eun-woo (legal name Lee Dong-min) was notified of an additional tax assessment exceeding 20 billion won after undergoing an unscheduled tax audit by the Seoul Regional Tax Service Investigation Bureau 4 in July last year. The National Tax Service reportedly determined that Cha's receipt of entertainment income through a corporation under his mother's name constituted income tax evasion. The corporation under his mother's name did not actually provide management services, but adopted this method to avoid the top marginal income tax rate (45%) and instead receive the relatively lower corporate tax rate (10%–25%).
Last year, actors Lee Ha-nee and Yoo Yeon-seok also reportedly received notices of additional tax assessments amounting to several billion won after tax audits. There have also been cases where celebrities previously selected as exemplary taxpayers by the National Tax Service were later assessed additional taxes. Actress Song Hye-kyo was found in a tax audit to have underreported income from 2009 to 2012 and underpaid 2.5 billion won in taxes, which she later paid. However, it later became known—and caused controversy—that Song had been selected as an exemplary taxpayer in 2009. She engaged in tax evasion during the two-year period in which tax audits were deferred due to her selection as an exemplary taxpayer.