NTS Launches Tax Audits on
'Excel Broadcast' BJs, Cyber Gambling Sites,
and Cyber Wrecker YouTubers
for Harmful Content and Tax Evasion
Internet broadcast hosts (BJs) who engage in provocative exposure based on the scale of viewer sponsorship and operate so-called 'cyber room salons' reminiscent of entertainment establishments, such as Excel broadcast operating BJs, will be subject to tax audits by the National Tax Service (NTS).
The NTS believes that these operators concealed the enormous profits earned through viewers' sponsorship competitions and evaded taxes by inflating expenses.
On the 6th, the NTS announced that it will conduct tax audits on suspects who produce harmful content solely for profit on widely used online platforms, causing social controversy while evading tax obligations. The subjects of the investigation include ▲ Excel broadcast operating BJs (9 entities) ▲ operators of gambling sites abusing deepfake technology (5 entities) ▲ cyber wreckers on YouTube (3 entities), totaling 17 entities.
An NTS official stated, "Recently, harmful content such as Excel broadcasts that taint the online space with decadent entertainment culture, gambling sites that lure even middle and high school students into the trap of gambling, and cyber wreckers who commit online violence through fake news have expanded their presence. The NTS is paying close attention to how these harmful contents disrupt social norms and violate sound legal order, rapidly infiltrating the online ecosystem, and aims to sound the alarm on the cleverly evolving tax evasion within."
◆ 'Excel Broadcasts' Polluting the One-Person Media Market through Sexual Commodification = According to the NTS, Excel broadcast operating BJs publicly displayed real-time rankings of sponsorship amounts obtained through provocative exposure by participating BJs. This maximized sponsorship competition among viewers supporting each BJ, generating annual revenues exceeding 10 billion KRW.
An NTS official emphasized, "They transformed one-person media into a hotbed of decadent culture by broadcasting content reminiscent of entertainment establishments, so-called cyber room salons. In particular, they commodify female BJs to induce excessive sponsorship from viewers."
The NTS believes that the subjects under investigation underreported taxes by falsely inflating appearance fees paid to BJs, paying fabricated labor costs to family members, and treating expensive luxury purchases as business expenses. Additionally, some adult BJs who broadcast on overseas adult platforms received settlement revenues from the platform into nominee accounts under family members' names and concealed them.
◆ 'Cyber Gambling Sites' Luring Even Minors through Deepfake Technology = The tax audit subjects also include operators of cyber gambling sites. Illegal gambling site operators have transferred offline gambling venues to online spaces and are attracting not only adults but also teenagers to cyber gambling by using deepfake images of celebrities.
According to the NTS, some operators run offices across Asia and Southeast Asia, receiving gambling funds from over 100,000 people, and have even developed dedicated apps for deposits and withdrawals to disguise these transactions as legitimate.
The subjects established companies and disguised expenses related to operating online gambling sites, which are not recognized as deductible expenses under tax law due to their violation of social order, as legitimate business expenses to evade taxes. They split gambling funds into multiple nominee accounts, acquired numerous real estate properties under spouses' names to conceal income and assets, and enjoyed lavish lifestyles including purchasing large commercial buildings, luxury cars, and expensive watches.
◆ 'Cyber Wrecker YouTubers' Extorting Victims through False and Defamatory Content = An NTS official pointed out, "Cyber wreckers, who have been expanding their activities on the YouTube platform while concealing their identities, continuously engage in acts such as defaming others and extorting money by exploiting weaknesses. They indiscriminately expose unverified facts or personal privacy for financial gain while evading legal and moral responsibilities."
The subjects under investigation failed to report sponsorship and advertising revenues received in personal accounts and used them to acquire real estate and increase assets. They also falsely reported non-existent outsourcing fees and rent payments as actual expenses, and improperly reduced taxes by declaring multiple expensive foreign vehicles used privately as business vehicles.
The NTS plans to rigorously conduct tax audits using all available means to verify the faithful reporting of harmful content operators who have accumulated profits unethically.
To this end, the NTS will comprehensively review all suspicious transactions involving the subjects and related parties through forensic and financial tracking. It will also thoroughly identify concealed profit structures and cash flows by actively utilizing external information such as inter-country information exchange, foreign exchange receipt data, Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) information, and investigative agency materials for taxation purposes.
Additionally, if necessary, the NTS will prevent loss of tax claims in advance through provisional seizure before finalization and notify the prosecution of tax offenses violating the Tax Crime Punishment Act to ensure appropriate punishment.
An NTS official said, "In the future, the NTS will closely examine the proper reporting of not only harmful content but also YouTubers' Super Chat and personal account sponsorships, sales revenues of businesses disguised as secondhand transactions, and influencer covert advertising revenues. Furthermore, through continuous tax information collection, we will actively respond to new, sophisticated, and covert tax evasion acts that threaten people's livelihoods."
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