Cha Eun-woo, a member of Astro, was notified of an additional tax assessment of 20 billion won. Kyunghyang Shinmun file photo

The Korea Taxpayers Union (president Kim Seon-taek) has announced it will file complaints against the reporter(s) and others who reported allegations of tax evasion involving Cha Eun-woo, a member of Astro.

The Korea Taxpayers Union said on the 9th, “At 11 a.m. on the 10th, in connection with the case of tax audit-related assessment information about Cha Eun-woo being leaked to the media, we plan to file a complaint with the National Office of Investigation of the National Police Agency against an unidentified tax official who divulged the information and the journalist who first reported it, on charges of violating the Personal Information Protection Act and of divulging official secrets under the Criminal Act.”

It added, “Photographs of picket signs taken in front of the National Office of Investigation in Seodaemun and of the filing receipt will also be posted on the website in the afternoon.”

The Taxpayers Union is a tax-focused civic group that works to protect taxpayer rights and interests.

On the 29th of last month, the union issued a press release, stating, “Leaking tax information is illegal,” and, “Information about celebrity tax audits is difficult to report without a tax official leaking assessment information.”

It also said, “‘Being assessed additional tax = deserving blame’ is not a valid equation,” and added, “To brand someone a tax evader solely because they were assessed additional tax is ignorance-driven character assassination.”

It emphasized, “For the media to categorically label the entity a ‘paper company’ runs counter to the presumption of innocence and poses a grave risk of forming prejudgment during objection and litigation procedures, thereby infringing taxpayer rights.”

The Seoul Regional National Tax Service conducted a high-intensity tax audit of Cha Eun-woo in the first half of last year and notified him of an additional income tax assessment of more than 20 billion won.

The tax authority concluded that Cha Eun-woo and Mr. Choi evaded taxes by using a substance-less corporation to reduce income tax amounting to 45%, having a corporate tax rate more than 20% lower than the income tax rate applied.

Fantagio was also assessed 8.2 billion won in additional taxes in August last year.

On the 26th of last month, Cha Eun-woo wrote on Instagram, “I sincerely bow my head in apology. As a citizen of the Republic of Korea, I am reflecting deeply on whether my attitude toward my tax obligations has been sufficiently rigorous.”