Lee Ha-nee, 6 billion in additional taxes, is suspected of sourcing 6.5 billion real estate purchases this time
Feb 18, 2025
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Field News reported on the 18th that `The Hope Project, a private agency of Lee Ha-nee, which had only 10 million won in capital at the time of its establishment, purchased real estate worth 6.5 billion won in the name of the corporation two years after its establishment, but the source of funds is unclear, raising questions," he reported.
The real estate is a two-story building with a total floor area of 173.63㎡ on a 332㎡ (about 100 pyeong) land located in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. From March 2018 to October 2020, Hope Project's corporate address was located, but now the restaurant is operating. It is estimated that the Hope Project is earning rental income from the real estate, and the current actual transaction price is expected to reach 10 billion won.
The media pointed out that `Lee Ha-nee, who was imposed by the National Tax Service on the highest level of additional fines ever for celebrities, neglected her duty to pay taxes and was active in increasing personal assets through real estate investment using corporations.'
The problem is the purchase of a large amount of real estate without paying additional capital. Even in the certified copy of the register, there was no record of receiving a loan as collateral at the time of acquisition of real estate in 2017.
However, there were two seizure records from Yongsan-gu Office in March 2022 and November last year. Considering that the district office seized real estate, the possibility is raised that it is an administrative measure related to non-payment of local taxes (property tax, acquisition tax, etc.).
In addition, Hope Project registered a separate business called 'Hope Project Yongsan Branch' with the property as its address, but it is found that it did not register a branch in the corporate register, so it may be subject to fines due to the problem.
An official from Lee Ha-nee's agency, Timhoff, said "This content corresponds to the artist's private life, and it is difficult to confirm it in detail."," he declined to comment.
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According to reports, Lee Ha-nee founded a corporation called 'Hani' in 2015 and changed its name to Hope Project, Inc. in 2022. Lee Ha-nee served as CEO and in-house director of the corporation until January 2023. Currently, Lee Ha-nee's husband is in charge of the representative position, and Lee Ha-nee is in charge of the inside director.
In response, Lee Ha-nee's agency, Tim Hopp, said in connection with Lee Ha-nee's tax investigation that `We faithfully responded to the tax investigation conducted by the Seoul Regional Tax Office as part of the non-regular integration of corporate artists.'
Lee Ha-nui has faithfully fulfilled his duty to pay taxes by complying with laws and procedures under the advice of his tax agent. The tax was paid in full as an additional tax due to differences in perspectives between tax authorities and tax agents, and had nothing to do with intentional omission of taxes.
Meanwhile, Lee Ha-nee has been active for about 10 years until April last year after signing an exclusive contract with Human Entertainment in 2014. After ending his exclusive contract in April last year, he worked without an agency for about seven months before moving to TEAMHOPE in January this year.
lyn@sportschosun.com
