Lee Yi Kyung’s agency has issued an official statement regarding the results of a tax audit of his one-man agency.

Recently, an irregular tax audit was conducted by the National Tax Service on Lee Yi Kyung’s one-man agency. Tax authorities determined that there was a possibility of tax avoidance, as the corporation established by Lee Yi Kyung had processed a portion of his personal income as corporate revenue, thereby benefiting from the lower maximum corporate tax rate compared to the personal income tax rate.

On May 13, Lee Yi Kyung’s agency SANGYOUNG ENT released an official statement and apologized for causing concern to his fans.

Read the full statement below:

Hello, this is SANGYOUNG ENT.

We would like to address the results of the tax audit concerning our agency’s actor Lee Yi Kyung.

First, we deeply apologize for causing concern to many people due to this matter.

Since his debut, Lee Yi Kyung has always complied with tax laws and faithfully fulfilled his tax obligations. Throughout the recent tax audit process, he diligently cooperated with the investigation by transparently submitting all relevant materials.

The results of this tax audit arose from a difference in the interpretation of tax laws between the tax authorities and our agency regarding the criteria for expense reporting during the operation of our corporation. We would like to clearly state that there was absolutely no intentional omission of income or tax evasion through dishonest means.

Our agency respects the findings of the National Tax Service, and we will pay the imposed penalty tax without delay in accordance with the relevant procedures.

Once again, we sincerely apologize for causing concern to many, and we will more thoroughly examine our tax and accounting management systems to ensure that similar issues do not occur in the future. We will continue to abide by the law and principles, and faithfully fulfill our tax obligations.

Recently, the entertainment industry has been embroiled in controversy as several actors were found to have had additional taxes imposed due to issues in the tax management process involving their one-man corporations.

While one-man agencies are a common method used by celebrities to manage their earnings and expenses in a corporate format, the ongoing controversies led the Korea Management Federation to urge institutional improvements regarding celebrities’ one-man corporations and tax issues last February.

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