National Tax Service Targets 'Beotbang' Agency...Tax Evasion Through False Tax Invoices and Fake Labor Payments

Investigation Launched into 21 Cases of Online-Based New Tax Evasion Suspects
Offline Store Operators Concealing Sales Proceeds on Online Secondhand Markets
Online Business Operators Disguising Business Locations to Receive Tax Reductions

The National Tax Service (NTS) has launched an investigation into so-called 'Beotbang (nude broadcasts)' broadcasters, agencies, and BJs (broadcast jockeys). They are suspected of evading value-added tax by issuing false tax invoices and falsely reporting labor costs, despite earning high profits through paid sponsorship items from viewers.

On the 23rd, the NTS announced that it will investigate a total of 21 cases, including 12 cases involving Beotbang broadcasters, agencies, and BJs, 5 cases involving sellers of luxury goods on online secondhand markets, and 4 cases involving YouTubers who received improper tax reductions.

Beotbang is an abbreviation for 'nude broadcasts,' which are online adult broadcasts where BJs remove their clothes and expose their bodies. Viewers communicate with BJs via chat and support them by purchasing paid items, and BJs show varying degrees of obscene acts such as body exposure and sexual behavior depending on the amount of item sponsorship from viewers.

The NTS stated that these individuals enjoy luxurious lifestyles with luxury goods, foreign cars, and high-end apartments from their earnings, while falsely claiming expenses by receiving fake tax invoices or pretending to pay labor costs to relatives. They are also suspected of disguising themselves as tax-exempt businesses despite being taxable businesses, thereby evading the entire value-added tax.

Some agencies exploited the fact that viewers' real names are not exposed during broadcasts by using 'baramjabi'?people disguised as viewers?who sponsored their affiliated BJs with amounts reaching hundreds of millions of won, encouraging other ordinary viewers to sponsor even larger amounts out of competition. Ordinary viewers, in order to receive attention from BJs, even took out loans to support BJs, which caused them financial hardship.

There are also business operators who run luxury goods stores and pawnshops offline but sold more than 1,800 items including precious metals, bags, watches, and motorcycles through online secondhand markets such as Danggeun Market, Junggonara, and Bungaejangter, receiving payments in cash and hiding their income. They exploited the difficulty of verifying sellers' real names and transaction amounts on online secondhand markets. The NTS plans to conduct a strict investigation into the allegations of cash sales omission.

Businesses that launder addresses using shared offices or fraudulently received startup small and medium enterprise tax reductions by registering businesses under the guise of startups are also under investigation. According to the NTS, cases of online businesses such as YouTubers and advertising agencies registering their businesses only at shared offices outside the metropolitan area, where offline business locations are not required, have been increasing recently. The NTS views this as an abuse of the youth startup SME tax reduction, which provides up to 100% tax exemption for startups outside the metropolitan overconcentration control zone.

Accordingly, the NTS has begun investigating YouTubers suspected of registering their businesses only in 100% exemption areas while actually operating elsewhere, or who have continued broadcasting under their spouse's business name but pretended to have newly started a business under their own name.

An NTS official said, "These business operators deceived the majority of legitimate businesses that faithfully report and pay taxes despite difficult economic conditions and disrupted fair market order. We will conduct a strict investigation into tax evasion allegations such as fabricated expenses and private expenses, omission of cash sales, improper tax reductions, and failure to report income."