Lee Byung-hun's Billion-Won Tax Reassessment "Bonus Payment Is Not Tax Evasion"

Last Year's National Tax Service Special Tax Audit Additional Tax Imposed
BH "Occurred at Accounting Processing Stage, Unrelated to Tax Evasion"

Actor Lee Byung-hun (52) was revealed late to have been imposed with a billion-won-level additional tax bill following an irregular (special) tax audit by the National Tax Service last year.

According to Aju Business Daily on the 28th, the Seoul Regional Tax Office's Investigation Bureau conducted an irregular (special) tax audit on Lee Byung-hun and BH Entertainment in September last year. BH Entertainment is an entertainment agency established by Lee Byung-hun in 2006, which transferred 100% of its shares to Kakao Entertainment (formerly Kakao M) in 2018.

Actor Lee Byung-hun [Photo by Yonhap News]

The National Tax Service's irregular tax audits are initiated when there are suspicions of tax evasion involving the corporation or individual, unlike regular tax audits.

The media raised the possibility of real estate investments involving both personal and corporate entities. It pointed out that Lee Byung-hun purchased a 10-story building in Yangpyeong-dong, Seoul, using personal and corporate funds in 2018, and sold it in 2021, earning a capital gain of around 10 billion won.

A BH Entertainment official explained to Asia Economy, "The additional tax was due to differences in the timing of advertising guarantee deposits and the failure to process employee bonuses as deductible expenses despite withholding tax, which was then treated as a gift." It was explained that the issue arose during the accounting process after Lee Byung-hun paid bonuses to all employees with his personal funds.

The additional tax incurred is unrelated to real estate matters, and the amount is not in the several hundred million won range. The official added, "Lee Byung-hun has never had any tax-related scandals in over 30 years."

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