Kim Seon-ho received money from his former agency through own company
Korean actor Kim Seon-ho allegedly received money from his former agency through his own company.
The company, SH2, is now the subject of the tax evasion issue against the actor, accusing him of using it to lower his income tax.
"It is true that (Kim Seon-ho) temporarily received the settlement money (from his previous agency) after establishing the corporation in January 2024,” said Fantagio, the actor’s agency, Korean media reported.
Salt Entertainment, the actor’s former agency, told the media, "We simply deposited the money into the account the actor requested."
Fantagio’s two actors, Cha Eun-woo and Kim Seon-ho, are facing allegations of tax evasion for establishing their own companies while under contract with an agency.
Kim Seon-ho was under Salt Entertainment until he transferred to Fantagio in March last year.
According to reports, personal income in South Korea is subject to an income tax of up to 49.5 percent but corporations are subject to a corporate tax of up to 19 percent.
In 2021, Kim Seon-ho was embroiled in an issue with her former girlfriend that resulted in him being removed from the TV show “2 Days & 1 Night”. After he was cleared in the issue, he returned to acting through a play in July 2022.
In addition, reports stated that Kim Seon-ho’s own company in question is not registered as a "popular culture planning business" with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as mandated by law.
A popular culture planning business refers to “a business of providing or brokering popular culture services or a business of training or directing popular culture artists, or giving counsel, etc. thereto,” according to the law Popular Culture And Arts Industry Development Act as translated by the Korea Law Translation Center.
A report indicated that receiving settlement payment by an unregistered corporation is a violation of the law, punishable by up to two years in prison.
He is currently starring in the Korean series "Can This Love Be Translated?" and will be in "In the Net" and "Portraits of Delusion."