Lee Myung-bak Wins First Trial in Lawsuit to Cancel Comprehensive Income Tax of Over 100 Million Won

Former President Lee Myung-bak [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Jo] Former President Lee Myung-bak has effectively won a lawsuit against the tax authorities, claiming he was unaware of the tax imposed on rental income from real estate held under a borrowed name while being detained in a detention center.

The Seoul Administrative Court, Administrative Division 5 (Presiding Judge Park Yang-jun), on the 17th, ruled partially in favor of the plaintiff in the case filed by former President Lee against the Gangnam Tax Office Chief, seeking cancellation of the comprehensive income tax and other tax impositions. The court stated, "Since the tax imposition appears to have been made after the statute of limitations for tax imposition had already passed, the plaintiff's preliminary claim is accepted." If this ruling is finalized, the tax authorities must cancel the tax imposition.

Previously, the Gangnam Tax Office, during the prosecution investigation of former President Lee, found that rental income from real estate held under a borrowed name had been omitted from the taxable income and imposed a total of approximately 130 million KRW in comprehensive income tax and additional tax. The tax authorities sent notices of tax imposition in November 2018 to Lee Si-hyung, the former president’s son, and former Blue House security staff, but at that time, former President Lee was detained in a detention center.

Subsequently, former President Lee filed an administrative appeal with the Tax Tribunal, arguing that he was unaware of the tax imposition due to being detained and that imposing taxes after the statute of limitations had passed was illegal. However, as the appeal was dismissed due to expiration of the objection period, former President Lee filed this lawsuit in February of last year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.