Actress Lee Ha-nee has recently been revealed to have undergone a rigorous tax investigation and faced a hefty tax penalty, prompting her agency to issue an official statement.
Lee Ha-nee's agency, Team Hope, stated to Star Today on the 17th regarding the National Tax Service's tax investigation, "Lee Ha-nee has faithfully responded to the tax investigation conducted by the Seoul Regional Tax Office as part of a non-regular integrated planning tax investigation for corporate artist businesses."
They added, "Lee Ha-nee has diligently fulfilled her tax obligations in compliance with the law and procedures under the advice of her tax representative. The current tax is an additional tax due to differences in perspective between the tax authorities and the tax representative, and we inform you that it has nothing to do with intentional tax evasion."
Earlier, according to a report by Field News, the Seoul Regional Tax Office conducted a rigorous tax investigation on actress Lee Ha-nee and Hope Project in September of last year, imposing a tax of up to 6 billion won, including income tax.
This imposed penalty is undoubtedly a 'record-breaking' amount compared to the penalties previously imposed on actors Song Hye-kyo, Kwon Sang-woo, and Park Hee-soon.
The background for the non-regular tax investigation on Lee Ha-nee is said to be due to the detection of tax evasion signs between Lee Ha-nee and People Entertainment during a non-regular tax investigation on People Entertainment in 2022.
Lee Ha-nee established a corporation called 'Hanhee Co., Ltd.' on October 5, 2015, while she was under her former agency, People Entertainment. She later changed the company name to 'Iryeon Co., Ltd.' in January 2018, and again changed it to 'Hope Project Co., Ltd.' in September 2022. Lee Ha-nee served as the CEO and internal director of this corporation until January 2023. Currently, her husband, Mr. J, holds the CEO position, and Lee Ha-nee serves as an internal director.
Lee Ha-nee is set to return to the small screen with the upcoming Netflix original drama 'Aema.' The series depicts the struggles of actresses Hee-ran and Joo-ae during the creation of the film 'Aema,' which hit Korea in the early 1980s.
<Below is TEAMHOPE's official statement>
Hello. This is TEAMHOPE, the agency of actress Lee Ha-nee.
We would like to convey the official position regarding the tax investigation of our affiliated actress Lee Ha-nee.
Lee Ha-nee has faithfully responded to the tax investigation conducted by the Seoul Regional Tax Office as part of a non-regular integrated planning tax investigation for corporate artist businesses.
Lee Ha-nee has diligently fulfilled her tax obligations in compliance with the law and procedures under the advice of her tax representative. The current tax is an additional tax due to differences in perspective between the tax authorities and the tax representative, and we inform you that it has nothing to do with intentional tax evasion.
Thank you.
[Shin Young-eun, Star Today Reporter]
