Legal expert suspects Cha Eun Woo relocated his mother's company address to the eel restaurant in Ganghwado specifically to evade taxes

Legal experts have chimed in on the details surrounding singer/actor Cha Eun Woo's suspicions of tax evasion, delving into the details surrounding the entertainment agency Cha's Gallery established by Cha Eun Woo's mother. 

According to reports on January 23 KST, Cha's Gallery was in fact a company previously located at a business building in Gimpo and operated as a private corporation. Then, in September of 2024, Cha's Gallery was renamed The Annie, and its structure was also changed to a limited liability company. It was around this time that the company's address was relocated to Ganghwado, the location of the eel restaurant owned by Cha Eun Woo's family.

According to a legal expert, these changes indicate a deliberate attempt to avoid external audits by the National Tax Service. Corporations considered to be above a certain size are subject to regular external audits, but limited liability companies do not have similar obligations to disclose their financial records. Furthermore, Ganghwado is said to be classified as a "growth management zone", allowing businesses and corporations operating in the area to avoid heavy acquisition taxes imposed elsewhere.

However, it was the fact that the one-man agency, The Annie, was located at the same address as the family restaurant in Ganghwado, which caught the attention of the National Tax Service. The entertainment agency's address suggested that it may be a "paper company", rather than an actual company operating in various service areas for its artist, Cha Eun Woo. 

Earlier on January 22 KST, the National Tax Service found that Cha Eun Woo may owe unpaid taxes amounting to 20 billion KRW (~ 13.6 million USD). An external audit conducted by the Tax Service discovered that the star's income was being divided among three parties, his management label Fantagio, his one-man agency, and Cha Eun Woo himself. By distributing income like so, the National Tax Service concluded that Cha Eun Woo may have evaded paying the personal income tax rate of 45% on a portion of his earnings. 

It has been noted that if found to be guilty of tax evasion, Cha Eun Woo's tax evasion case will join some of the biggest tax evasion headlines in modern history, including those made by Fan Bingbing, Zheng Shuang, Cristiano Ronaldo, Willie Nelson, and Shakira.