Amid allegations that singer and actor Cha Eun Woo evaded taxes amounting to roughly 20 billion won, a community post compiling past tax evasion and back tax amounts involving global celebrities and sports stars has gone viral.
According to a post shared on an online community on the 23rd, the No.1 spot for tax evasion amount belongs to Chinese actress Fan Bingbing. In May 2018, a Chinese broadcaster exposed allegations of Fan Bingbing’s use of so-called “dual contracts,” which sparked suspicions of tax evasion. Following an investigation, Chinese tax authorities imposed more than 140 billion won in total penalties on Fan Bingbing and her agency, including approximately 46 billion won in unpaid taxes and around 96 billion won in fines and back taxes.
Ranking second is Chinese actress Zheng Shuang, who was fined and ordered to pay back taxes totaling approximately 54 billion won for tax evasion. The case came to light after being exposed by her former partner and caused major shockwaves throughout the Chinese entertainment industry.
Third place goes to Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo was accused of hiding about 14 billion won in image rights income between 2011 and 2014, during his time at Real Madrid, by using paper companies. Although he initially denied the allegations, he eventually reached a settlement with Spanish tax authorities, admitted wrongdoing, and was sentenced to 23 months in prison with a suspended sentence, along with fines totaling approximately 24.2–24.9 billion won.
Next, American singer Willie Nelson ranked fourth with approximately 22 billion won in unpaid taxes, followed by Colombian global pop star Shakira, who placed fifth for allegedly evading around 21 billion won in income tax.
Cha Eun Woo was mentioned in sixth place. The Seoul Regional Tax Office conducted an intensive tax audit on him in the first half of last year and notified him of more than 20 billion won in additional income tax to be collected.
The National Tax Service determined that Company A, established by Cha Eun Woo’s mother (identified by the surname Choi), was a paper company that did not actually provide substantive services to him. Cha Eun Woo’s income was reportedly split among his agency Fantagio, Company A, and Cha Eun Woo himself. Tax authorities believe that Cha Eun Woo and his mother used the shell company A to reduce an income tax rate of up to 45%, instead applying a corporate tax rate more than 20 percentage points lower, thereby employing a tax avoidance scheme.
The post has since surpassed 570,000 views. Netizens reacted with comments such as, “This is on a global scale,” “Why do people commit large-scale tax evasion when they’ll get caught anyway,” “Even if it’s Cha Eun Woo, is 20 billion won something to joke about?” and “I can’t even imagine how much money celebrities make.”
However, on the 22nd, Cha Eun Woo’s agency Fantagio released an official statement clarifying that “the key issue in this case is whether the corporation established by Cha Eun Woo’s mother qualifies as an entity subject to substantive taxation,” adding that “this is not a matter that has been finally confirmed or officially notified.”
Sources: Netizenbuzz
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