"You look like Cha Eun-Woo."' Controversy over tax evasion of professional gamers who are exempt from military service → He explained himself "It's completely my responsibility... "It's not for tax evasion"

*This content was translated by AI.

"Ruler" Park Jae-hyuk, the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games gold medalist and Korea's top professional gamer, has recently faced fierce criticism for being embroiled in tax evasion allegations. In particular, the issue is evaluated to be very similar to the controversy that actor Cha Eun-woo evaded taxes by entrusting management work through a company in his mother's name.

According to a report by News 1 on the 1st, Park Jae-hyuk filed for a trial against the imposition of comprehensive income tax and gift tax, but was finally dismissed. According to the Tax Tribunal's decision, Park Jae-hyuk asked, "Please recognize the manager's work expenses paid to my father for about three years from 2018 to 2021 as necessary expenses for business." In addition, he reportedly appealed for unfair imposition of gift tax, saying, "The stock transaction under the name of my father was also a simple asset management without any intention of tax avoidance."

However, the judgment of the tax authorities and the Tax Tribunal was harsh. "In the case of professional gamers, all activities are managed by their game team through exclusive contracts and related expenses are also borne," the Tax Tribunal said, noting, "Even if a senior manager is needed, there is no objective evidence to prove this." Even on the issue of stock name trust, it was judged that it was difficult to see this as a simple asset management, based on the circumstances in which the transaction income was transferred to the father's account and used. In fact, it was considered to have the purpose of avoiding taxes.

JTBC pointed out, "It is in line with the recent controversy that actor Cha Eun-woo evaded taxes by entrusting management work to a company in his mother's name," pointing out that Park Jae-hyuk's case resembles a typical tax evasion method using a family name. The National Tax Service classified the amount paid to the father as work-related expenses and excluded them from expenses, and imposed gift tax on the name trust.

Park Jae-hyuk was a symbolic player who even benefited from the inclusion of sports personnel through the Asian Games gold medal, so the public's eyes are even colder.

As the controversy spread, Park Jae-hyuk directly explained through a statement of position. Park Jae-hyuk said on his personal social networking service (SNS) on the 1st, "There is no intentional hiding or concealing of income," adding, "This issue is caused by carelessness in the process of managing personal assets that have paid all income taxes."

Regarding the cost of his father's manager, he said, "Since 2018, my father has quit his job and taken full care of it," and explained, "I applied for the labor cost as a necessary expense because he has been in charge of practical agent tasks such as adjusting schedules outside of games, team contracts, and college entrance-related tasks even before the introduction of the authorized agency system." The stock title trust also explained, "I just asked my father to manage it because I lacked experience in asset management, but it was not for tax avoidance purposes."

"Although it is mentioned along with other cases in some reports, we have never attempted to disperse income or conceal assets," Park Jae-hyuk said, adding, "We respect the judgment of the Disposal Administration, and we have completed the payment of the related gift tax in full and returned all stocks in my name."

The incident is expected to go beyond simple tax issues to become a player qualification issue. The League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) regulations stipulate that penalties such as suspension of participation in the league can be imposed if an investigation is conducted on charges of violating the tax law. Park Jae-hyuk said, "I will take full responsibility for this issue, and I will sincerely cooperate with the league's review."

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*This content was translated by AI.