This year, 9 Excelbangsong hosts and 5 Deepfake creators were investigated
Jung Taeho: "Tax blind spots must be prevented"
It has been confirmed that the National Tax Service conducted tax audits on 21 YouTubers last year who were criticized for being in a tax blind spot.
According to data submitted by Democratic Party lawmaker Jung Taeho, a member of the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee, from 2019 to last year, regional offices of the National Tax Service conducted tax audits on 67 YouTubers. The total amount of tax imposed on them over the past six years was 23.6 billion won, averaging about 350 million won per YouTuber.
This amount includes not only YouTube earnings but also taxes imposed on all income generated from any business activities conducted by the individuals. By year, the number of tax audit targets increased significantly from a total of 22 people over the four years from 2019 to 2022, to 24 people in 2023 alone, and 21 people last year.
The total amount of tax imposed also rose, from 5.6 billion won between 2019 and 2022, to 9.1 billion won in 2023, and 8.9 billion won last year. Last year, the average tax imposed per person was about 420 million won.
The National Tax Service maintains that it strictly responds when tax evasion is detected by verifying the appropriateness of YouTubers' income declarations. However, it does not manage the number of cases or amounts collected in detail when it comes to individual earnings such as sponsorships. Since these results reflect only tax audits conducted at the regional office level, the total number is estimated to be even higher when including audits conducted by individual tax offices.
This year, in particular, many internet broadcast hosts (BJs) running Excelbangsong have been subject to tax audits. Excelbangsong refers to a type of broadcast where internet hosts (BJs) perform provocative dances or poses based on viewer sponsorships, and the sponsorship rankings for each BJ are displayed in a format similar to an Excel spreadsheet to encourage competitive sponsorship. Some BJs are reportedly earning over 10 billion won per year through this method.
Lawmaker Jung Taeho stated, "Recent inspections of one-person media creators such as YouTubers have found cases where individual earnings like sponsorships were not properly reported for tax purposes," adding, "To prevent tax blind spots, it is necessary to encourage accurate reporting and to prepare measures to improve the system."
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