Lee Min Ho paid a fine of 100 million won in taxes after the investigation.
Tax evasion is becoming a hot issue in the Korean showbiz industry. According to reports, Lee Min Ho and his management company had to pay additional taxes after an investigation. Nate reported that the National Tax Service of Korea collected 100 million won (76,000 USD) in taxes from Lee Min Ho and MYM Entertainment.
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According to DongA, Lee Min Ho and MYM Entertainment were investigated for tax irregularities in 2020. At that time, the National Tax Service imposed fines on the Korean actor. Tax investigations are only conducted when authorities suspect individuals or organizations of tax evasion.
In an interview with Newsis reporter Choi Ji Yoon, MYM Entertainment denied allegations that Lee Min Ho had evaded taxes.
“He has been paying taxes honestly for many years. We assert that Lee Min Ho has never done anything shameful related to tax fraud,” the representative shared.
MYM Entertainment said that the amount of money that the actor was investigated for was related to compensation he received in cases of infringement of portrait rights. The tax inspection arose from accounting errors in the company’s handling of expenses.
“Lee Min Ho received compensation for cases of infringement of portrait rights. As it was unclear whether the artist had to pay tax on this amount or not, we paid the full amount to the tax authorities. After being explained by the investigating agency, the company paid the additional tax honestly,” MYM Entertainment said.
According to DongA, recently, the National Tax Service of Korea conducted tax inspections of 84 individuals, including actors, athletes, webtoon authors, YouTubers, and platform operators. Actors Kim Tae Hee, Lee Byung Hun, and Kwon Sang Woo are among the showbiz figures who had to pay fines for tax issues.
Lee Min Ho was born in 1987. He rose to fame in 2009 with his role as Goo Jun Pyo in Boys Over Flowers. After that, the actor continued to make an impression with The Heirs, City Hunter, and Legend of the Blue Sea.
In 2022, he returned to the screen with Pachinko. Playing a villain in the series helped the actor shed his “rich heir” image on the screen.
