Baemin, Musinsa, Pulmuone and Others Facing Massive Tax Probes Over Suspected 1 Trillion Won Tax Evasion

[Anchor]

The National Tax Service has launched massive tax audits against 41 companies closely linked to everyday living costs, including Baedal Minjok, Musinsa, and Pulmuone. The amount of taxes allegedly evaded by these companies is estimated to be around 1 trillion won.

Reporter Chae Heesun has the details.

[Reporter]

The core of the National Tax Service audit into Baedal Minjok focuses on whether proper taxes were paid when transferring profits generated domestically to overseas shareholders.

Woowa Brothers, the operator of Baedal Minjok, repeatedly purchased and retired its own shares held by its overseas holding company.

The National Tax Service suspects whether the company intentionally purchased these treasury shares at inflated prices.

If they were bought at high prices or if funds were transferred inappropriately, it could essentially be regarded as a dividend.

When a domestic company pays dividends or interest generated in South Korea to an overseas entity, failing to withhold and pay taxes in advance constitutes tax evasion.

The tax agency also decided to investigate whether business support was provided free of charge to overseas affiliates and if value-added taxes were improperly deducted.

The National Tax Service estimates that the amount of taxes evaded by Baemin through these practices reaches 100 billion won.

[Lee Sung-geul / Director General of the Bureau of Investigation, National Tax Service: They complexly utilized capital transactions and transferred income to overseas holding companies under the guise that it was 'not a dividend' or 'not interest income.']

The targets of the tax audits also included fashion platform Musinsa and food company Pulmuone.

Two fashion platforms, including Musinsa, are reportedly under investigation for suspicions of inflating costs through omissions in sales, while food companies like Pulmuone are being probed over suspicions of providing massive financial support to overseas affiliates without collecting interest.

Including 11 poultry farms that underreported earnings worth billions of won, the total amount of suspected tax evasion by the 41 companies caught in this crackdown reaches 1 trillion won.

Given that these companies are closely tied to the cost of living, the National Tax Service plans to intensively investigate not only signs of tax evasion but also the process by which the families of company owners built their wealth.

(Photo courtesy of Yonhap News)

(Video filming: Lee Jae-young, Video editing: Kim Jun-hee, Design: Jang Sung-beom)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.