Actor Lee Ha-nee (41) has been charged with taxes amounting to 6 billion won, and now allegations regarding the source of funds for her real estate purchase have emerged.
According to the real estate industry on the 19th, Lee Ha-nee's personal corporation purchased a 332-square-meter plot of land and a two-story building located in Hannam-dong, Seoul, for 6.55 billion won in 2017.
Currently, the area near the building is trading at around 14 million won per 3.3 square meters. When simply calculated based on the land area, it is estimated to have a market value of about 15 billion won.
Lee Ha-nee established her corporation, Hanhee Co., Ltd., in October 2015. After changing the corporate name to Irye-yun Co., Ltd. in January 2018, it was reported that the name was changed again to Hope Project in September 2022. Lee Ha-nee served as the representative director and internal director of this corporation until January 2023. Currently, her husband holds the representative position, and Lee Ha-nee serves as an internal director.
This building had the address of Hope Project from March 2018 to October 2020. It is currently operated as a restaurant. It appears that Hope Project is earning revenue from this real estate.
Lee Ha-nee's corporation, established with a capital of 10 million won, raised questions about the source of the transaction funds as it purchased a considerable amount of real estate without additional capital contributions. There was no record of having taken out a loan secured by this property in the registration of real estate at the time of acquisition in 2017.
In 2020, a collateral of 4.2 billion won was placed on the property, but it was later canceled. Subsequently, in 2023, a collateral of 3 billion won was re-established. Considering that the collateral establishment ratio is generally 120%, it is estimated that the actual loan amount is around 2.5 billion won.
The Seoul Regional Tax Service conducted an intensive tax investigation against Lee Ha-nee and Hope Project in September last year, resulting in the recovery of approximately 6 billion won in income tax. This amount is considered the highest in history compared to past penalties imposed on actors Song Hye-kyo, Jun Ji-hyun, Kwon Sang-woo, and Park Hee-soon.
Lee Ha-nee's agency, Team Hope, noted, "Lee Ha-nee faithfully responded to the tax investigation conducted by the Seoul Regional Tax Service as part of the regular integrated tax inspection for corporate business artist. She complied with the law and procedures under the advice of her tax representative and fulfilled her tax obligations."
They added, "This tax is an additional tax due to differences in perspectives between the tax authorities and the tax representatives, and the full amount has been paid. It has nothing to do with any intentional tax omissions."