"Tax Investigation on 99 Suspects for Failing to Report Receiving Over 10 Corporate Supercars and 6 Million Won in Cash"

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kim Hyewon] Food wholesale and retail company A, faced with a surge in demand due to the K-Food trend, raised prices and established disguised corporations under the names of the owner’s children to disperse sales. They received payment for sales through nominee accounts in the names of relatives, thereby omitting the declaration of income amounts. Additionally, they improperly recorded labor costs for family members who did not actually work, evading income tax. The owner’s children purchased luxury goods with corporate cards and privately used about ten supercars registered under the corporation’s name, enjoying a lavish and extravagant lifestyle.

Used goods specialist B repeatedly sold unopened products purchased without documentation and counterfeit luxury goods through direct transactions on a used goods trading platform, failing to report sales. Lending at high interest rates to people in urgent need of cash due to worsening economic conditions, B circulated high-value precious metals, watches, and luxury bags secured as collateral on the used goods trading platform, making excessive profits and living a luxurious lifestyle with the undeclared income.

C, the owner of a famous restaurant, resided in a house owned by the corporation while failing to report rental income generated from leasing several houses owned by himself and his spouse. The corporation also improperly withdrew corporate funds by repaying mortgages on houses owned by the owner using corporate money.

Specialized D entrance exam (consulting) academy for arts and physical education exploited parents’ anxiety about their children’s admission by receiving consulting fees of 5 to 6 million KRW per student in cash under the name of special lectures before and after the college entrance exam, failing to report the income. The academy director used the undeclared income to acquire neighborhood commercial buildings in Gangnam, Seoul, operate three rental business sites, and purchase expensive foreign cars, leading a luxurious and extravagant lifestyle.

On the 27th, the National Tax Service (NTS) announced plans to conduct tax audits on 99 suspects accused of tax evasion that worsened the difficulties of ordinary citizens, as in these cases.

The NTS selected tax evaders who illegally or unlawfully hindered fair competition, increased burdens for support and funeral expenses, took excessive profits in basic living sectors such as food and housing, and undermined the livelihood foundations of ordinary citizens as targets for tax audits.

Food wholesale and retail company A, which took excessive profits and lived lavishly with corporate funds, was identified as a tax evader exploiting basic living sectors. Along with the owner of A, 33 individuals including construction company owners who colluded in bidding for apartment defect and maintenance repair work and evaded taxes by paying construction fees in cash were targeted for investigation.

B, who evaded taxes using a used goods trading platform, falls under tax evaders hindering fair competition. The NTS plans to investigate a total of 32 individuals, including B and broker organizations that introduced patients eligible for claims of actual expense insurance payments for treatments such as cataract surgery to hospitals, as tax evaders hindering fair competition.

Nineteen individuals, including unregistered lenders who lent high-interest funds to owner C and small business owners and collected interest income without paying taxes, were selected as tax evaders undermining the livelihood foundations of ordinary citizens.

Fifteen individuals, including the director of academy D, who increased burdens for support and funeral expenses, are subject to investigation. This group also includes a park cemetery that saw a surge in sales by offering expensive flat graves and tree burials but did not register branches as business operators and failed to pay value-added tax on tombstones and boundary stones.

Oh Hoseon, director of the NTS Investigation Bureau, stated, "We will conduct intensive tax audits through financial tracking and forensics, and if fraudulent acts such as scams are confirmed during the investigation process, we will strictly prosecute and report them."

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