It has emerged that the National Tax Service did not appoint any "celebrity public relations ambassadors" last year, a program that began in 2001. The sight of celebrity ambassadors appearing in the agency's policy promotion posters or public service ads has also disappeared.
The National Tax Service is said to be considering whether to maintain the current celebrity ambassador system. National Tax Service Commissioner Lim Gwang-hyeon is said to have had concerns since serving as a lawmaker with the Democratic Party of Korea that "famous celebrities are used for promotion without pay." In addition, as famous celebrities have recently been investigated for tax evasion one after another, public sentiment toward celebrity ambassadors has soured.
◇ Criticism: "Appointing famous celebrities as unpaid ambassadors… isn't that power abuse?"
According to reporting compiled by ChosunBiz 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 there was internal debate over whether to continue the current system."
Since 2001, the National Tax Service had 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 granted benefits such as a two- to three-year deferral of tax audits to ambassadors and, in return, had them appear in policy promotion posters or public service ads to generate publicity effects.
In the National Assembly, criticism arose over the National Tax Service using high-priced celebrities for policy promotion without pay. At the 2024 National Tax Service audit while serving as a lawmaker with the Democratic Party of Korea, Commissioner Lim Gwang-hyeon said, "When the National Tax Service asks someone to serve as an ambassador, entertainment agencies say it's hard to refuse, so they have a lot to think about," adding, "This could be seen as power abuse by an authority, so will you do it again next year?" At the time, Administrator Kang Min-soo said, "We will discuss it."
◇ Cha Eun-woo, Lee Ha-nui, Yoo Yeon-seok… continuing celebrity tax evasion controversies fuel public backlash
As controversies over tax evasion by famous celebrities continue to surface, public sentiment toward celebrity ambassadors has also worsened. It recently became known that singer-actor Cha Eun-woo (legal name Lee Dong-min) received notice of additional taxes exceeding 20 billion won after undergoing an ad hoc tax audit by the 4th Investigation Bureau of the Seoul Regional Tax Service in July last year. The National Tax Service is said to have judged that Cha's receipt of entertainment income through a corporation in his mother's name constituted income tax evasion. The corporation in his mother's name did not actually provide management services, but this method was chosen 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-nui and Yoo Yeon-seok also reportedly received notices of additional taxes amounting to several billion won following tax audits. There were also cases in which celebrities selected as exemplary taxpayers by the National Tax Service were later hit with 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. Controversy erupted when it belatedly came to light that Song had been selected as an exemplary taxpayer in 2009. She committed tax evasion during the two-year period when tax audits were deferred due to her exemplary taxpayer designation.