20 Celebrities To Be Investigated For Tax Evasion
The National Tax Service has launched a probe into many wealthy individuals, including 20 celebrities, over suspected tax evasion. These 20 celebrities are a part of 176 individuals who are being investigated for evading taxes.
Within the 20 celebrities includes famous personalities in the entertainment field, entertainment agency CEO’s, and professional athletes.
The methods that the celebrities used to evade taxes varied. Celebrity “A” set up a company under their name and their family’s name and then transferred money to the company under false pretense that the money would be used for employees. The celebrity would then take the money out of that company. The celebrity also transferred wealth within their family through expensive gifts such as real estate or cars, and did not report any gift taxes. Finally, the celebrity would also purchase stocks from their family members at artificially inflated prices to transfer more money between them.
An entertainment agency CEO used a borrowed-name account to siphon off money from the sale of concert goods, lower his tax bill. One professional athlete is suspected of setting up a company under his family name and filing false deductions for expenses such as manager fees.
Also involved in the tax probe are a number of famous YouTubers and online personalities. One YouTuber is under investigation for improperly reporting the total value of products they imported from overseas through online shopping malls, using advertising revenue that is earned overseas.
Out of the 176 individuals being investigated, 20 are celebrities, 15 are in media related business, 47 are related to new-booming businesses such as animal hospitals, 39 are doctors, and 35 are real estate agents. The remaining individuals are unidentified.
The National Tax Service has been cracking down on non-taxpayers recently, most notably searching and seizing documents from YG Entertainment, who is suspected of avoiding taxes on their overseas concerts.
