'Cheonman' YouTuber Embezzled Income from Undisclosed Ads... Luxury Apartment Shopping and Supercar Indulgence

New Boom Industry Operators, Public Officials with Professional Backgrounds Targeted for Unfair Tax Evasion
Cases of Purchasing Over 100 Small Houses for Accommodation Sharing and Income Concealment

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] Influencer A, who has millions of followers, concealed advertising revenue by failing to properly disclose so-called 'backdoor advertising' and treated three supercars worth billions of won, which were rented, as business expenses despite using them privately. Expenses for overseas travel, luxury hotels, and high-end skincare clinics were also accounted for as business expenses, evading income tax. Content creator B also received regular sponsorship payments from millions of subscribers through overseas payment gateway (PG) virtual accounts and failed to report the full amount, while also embezzling advertising income from content. With the evaded income, B purchased pre-sale rights for six apartments, gifted them to family members, and evaded gift tax by paying off loans on their behalf.

Patent law firm C, which includes former high-ranking public officials such as patent attorneys, monopolized work through superior status, and as sales increased, set up consulting firms under employees' names to receive fake tax invoices under the name of consulting fees to embezzle income. They provided patent services to foreign corporations or non-residents without issuing transaction evidence, exploiting the fact that such parties do not require it, and failed to report income. The embezzled funds were used by the representative's family to purchase luxury goods and high-end passenger cars, enjoying a lavish lifestyle.

The National Tax Service announced on the 21st that it will begin tax investigations on 74 unfair tax evaders, including new boom industry operators based on online platforms and professionals with public office backgrounds.

The selection types for this investigation include ▲16 influencers who evaded income through social media and sponsorship platforms ▲17 unregistered accommodation sharing operators who evaded income earned through sharing economy platforms ▲28 professionals such as lawyers and tax accountants with public office backgrounds who earned high incomes but evaded income tax ▲13 high-net-worth individuals who acquired multiple high-value real estate properties with evaded income.

Among them, influencers and unregistered accommodation sharing operators were analyzed for new types of evasion by actively securing overseas tax information such as information exchange data with the countries where platform operators are located and electronic payment gateway (PG) data.

The 16 influencers under investigation were found to have an average of 5.49 million followers, with some exceeding 10 million. They mainly evaded advertising income earned through backdoor advertising and indirect advertising or embezzled sponsorship income received through overseas sponsorship accounts. They avoided taxes by gifting real estate acquisition funds to relatives or spending privately on supercar rental fees and accounting these as expenses.

The 17 accommodation sharing operators were found to have rented an average of 34 units, with some renting over 100 small housing units such as one-room apartments or officetels. They equipped lodging facilities and generated income by sharing them through overseas sharing economy intermediary platforms but embezzled profits by receiving money through nominee accounts.

Unfair tax evasion by professionals and high-net-worth individuals was selected for investigation by focusing on evasion suspicions such as private expenses, corporate fund outflows, and luxury lifestyles. The average annual sales of the professionals under investigation were 6.8 billion KRW, and the total assets of the high-net-worth individuals reached 416.5 billion KRW, averaging 32 billion KRW per person. The real estate they owned totaled 332.8 billion KRW, averaging 25.6 billion KRW per person.

The 28 professionals with public office backgrounds under investigation were found to have attempted tax evasion by setting up shell corporations or failing to report consulting fees received in cash. They included lawyers, tax accountants, accountants, and patent attorneys, and attempted tax evasion through shell corporations or false tax invoices. The 13 high-net-worth individuals mainly purchased real estate with embezzled income, and cases of illicit gifting to children were detected.

Previously, the National Tax Service conducted planned investigations on 214 high-income earners with luxury lifestyles and tax evaders harming ordinary citizens in three rounds last year, collecting 116.5 billion KRW in additional taxes. In February this year, it also conducted planned investigations on 61 unfair tax evaders, including illicit gifting, collecting 36.5 billion KRW. Currently, tax investigations are underway for 126 new boom industry and livelihood-harming tax evaders initiated in May and August.

Kim Dong-il, Director of the National Tax Service Investigation Bureau, emphasized, "We will continuously strengthen our capabilities to collect and analyze domestic and international tax information to build a seamless and thorough tax infrastructure both domestically and abroad."