Entertainment
Hallyuwood
Cha Eun-woo's agency says star, company cooperating with investigation in tax evasion issue
Cha Eun-woo's agency says star, company cooperating with investigation in tax evasion issue
Fantagio, the agency of Korean actor Cha Eun-woo, said the star and the company are cooperating with the investigation into the tax evasion issue.
Korea’s National Tax Service (NTS) earlier imposed a 20-billion won (about $13.6 million) surcharge against Cha Eun-woo related to a corporation established by his mother.
The corporation signed a service agreement with Fantagio about Cha Eun-woo’s activities.
The NTS determined that his mother’s corporation was a “paper company” that did not actually provide services. The star and his mother are accused of establishing the corporation to allegedly reduce their 45 percent income tax and distribute the income to a corporate tax rate more than 20 percentage points lower than their income tax rate.
On Jan. 26, Cha Eun-woo released a statement, saying that “I will faithfully participate in all future tax-related procedures. Furthermore, I will humbly accept the final decision made by the relevant authorities, and fulfill my responsibilities accordingly.”
They are appealing the decision of the NTS.
On Jan. 27, Fantagio issued a statement to say “we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused to many due to the recent events involving our agency and our artist, Cha Eun-woo. We feel a heavy sense of responsibility for the controversy that has arisen due to issues involving our company and our artists.”
“The matter raised is currently being investigated in accordance with tax authorities' procedures, and both our agency and our artists are faithfully cooperating with the investigation within the scope of their respective obligations. Once the legal and administrative decisions become clear, we will responsibly implement the necessary measures based on those findings,” the company said.
Fantagio said, “However, we earnestly request that you refrain from making indiscriminate speculation, spreading unconfirmed information, and overinterpreting the claims and suspicions raised by some.”
“We will use this incident as an opportunity to reexamine our artist management system, supplement and strengthen our systems as necessary, and do our utmost to prevent similar controversies from recurring in the future,” it said.