[ASKKPOP] Song Hye Kyo revealed to be the top star investigated for tax evasion + issues apology
As mentioned before, according to the National Tax Service and the Board of Audit and Inspection, when she reported her taxes, from 2009 to 2011, she claimed a total of 5.953 billion KRW (approximately $5.8 million USD) as necessary expenses from her income. However, 92.3% of that 5.953 billion KRW did not have proper documentation to prove her claims.
Officials say that she under-reported 785 million KRW in 2009 ($770,000 USD), 818 million KRW in 2010 ($803,000 USD), and 954 million USD ($937,000 USD) 2011 for a total of 2.557 billion KRW under-reported.
After the investigation, Song Hye Kyo later submitted the taxes she owed. In addition to the actress, the National Tax Service also demanded the disciplinary action of the 2 tax accountants that filed taxes for her because they allowed her to break tax laws.
In response to the matter, Song Hye Kyo's law firm and her reps released a statement to go into the specifics of the numbers, and also reveal that the actress is not at fault as she had left her previous accountants (who are no longer working for her) in charge, so she did not know this was going on.
They also apologized on her behalf, writing,
"The tax accounting firms 'T' and 'P' that did not do a proper job of overlooking their emplyees' work have already been reported to the disciplinary committee of tax attorneys, and the accountants who were managing Song Hye Kyo's finances have been fired. We are looking into taking legal action against the accountants and their affiliated firms.
We also know that even though we had delegated the task to an accountant, the ultimate responsibility lies on the taxpayer herself.
She apologizes that she did not pay more caution towards tax matters as an actress who is in the eye of the public.
Although she has paid in full the amount that she owed ago after the investigation, Song Hye Kyo is deeply reflecting about how her taxes her mishandled. We ask you for your understanding as she will do her best so that this type of situation does not occur again.
We once again bow our heads and apologize."