Song probed for tax evasion
Published: 19 Aug. 2014, 17:55
Song Hye-gyo
Allegations about Song’s incorrect tax payments surfaced on Tuesday during a hearing for Im Hwan-su, a candidate who has been nominated to head the National Tax Service.
According to her legal representation, Song was told in August 2012 that there was a problem with how her expenses from 2009 to 2011 had been processed.
The actress’s former tax agency investigated the claims after the notification was delivered.
But after leaving the issue with the former company, Song received another note from the National Tax Service saying that they could not trust the submitted documents as there were some issues with them.
In 2012, Song paid the money demanded by the tax authority in full, along with a penalty, which totaled around 3.1 billion won ($3 million).
“She learned about the wrongful handling of her expenses by her former firm, but did not file a complaint because she thought it was also her responsibility to keep an eye on her tax representative,” The Firm said in a release. The agency added that she didn’t know about the issue until she was notified by the National Tax Service in 2012.
Song was again asked to pay an extra 700 million won in April this year for expenses in 2008 and paid the amount completely.
“I’m very sorry that I, as an actress who gets public attention, have not paid more attention on issues related to tax,” Song said in a press release. “I’m very regretful of my ignorance in handling taxes and I will pay extra attention to never repeat such [wrongdoings].”
By Lee Sun-min
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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