The Korean Taxpayers’ Federation has strongly criticized the National Tax Service (NTS) yesterday over the handling of information related to Cha Eun-woo’s issue, focusing on the leak of confidential tax information. The Federation argues that leaking tax audit details is illegal and causes severe, irreversible harm by publicly branding a taxpayer as guilty before any conclusion is reached.

Yesterday, the Korea Taxpayers' Federation released a statement titled "Immediately Stop the Honor Killing of Cha Eun-woo Based on False Facts in the Media," criticizing that "the National Tax Service's leak of tax information can cause irreparable damage by branding a celebrity as a 'shameless tax evader'." 

The KTA emphasised that "the National Tax Basic Act recognizes the right to a pre-assessment review before taxation and the right to file an objection or request a trial after taxation in relation to illegal and unfair tax assessments. In this situation, even if the amount of tax collected from the tax audit is unfair, Mr. Cha Eun-woo can give up his right to appeal because of negative public opinion,” and “This violates the taxpayer’s right to appeal against an unfair tax and receive a refund.” noting that under Korean tax law, individuals are entitled to pre-assessment reviews and post-assessment objections, with a significant proportion of appeals later accepted. 

They also said that this violates the principle of presumption of innocence guaranteed by the Constitution saying “There are many cases in which the National Tax Service’s decisions have been overturned by the Supreme Court,” and “The media’s assertions and premature reporting neutralizes the appeal and litigation process, and goes against the principle of presumption of innocence stipulated in the Constitution.” 

They also directly criticized the National Tax Service, saying, “If tax information is leaked, the national tax foundation will collapse.” saying "The National Tax Basic Act strictly prohibits the leak of tax information, and the reason why tax information leaks are heavily punished under the Criminal Act for the crime of disclosing official secrets and the Personal Information Protection Act is because, if an individual's estimated tax amount and specific details of the tax to be collected from a tax audit are leaked and reported in the media, as in the case of Mr. Cha Eun-woo, taxpayers will try not to cooperate with the tax audit, and this will cause the foundation of the national tax system to collapse."

They added, "The National Tax Service should immediately investigate the leak of tax information and punish those responsible," and "The government should introduce a punitive damages system for damages caused by tax information leaks, and create a new provision in the Tax Evasion Punishment Act to severely punish those who leak tax information."

Regarding this, a National Tax Service official stated, "The issue of tax information leaks has caused employees to become neurotic about security. Internal barriers are so high that even adjacent departments are unaware of what's being investigated." They added, "Tax information leaks are subject to severe disciplinary action, so our staff always prioritize the security of taxpayer information when performing their duties."

source:https://n.news.naver.com/article/119/0003055861

A step in the right direction for the call to action of this petition for the Global Call to allow a fair process for CHA EUN WOO and all celebrities/public figures.

Lets keep sharing the petition to increase awareness; especially where media comments are unjustified, share the petition as a comment on the related media and as a means of 'delivering the petition directly' to call for action.