[경제][팩트와이] In Korea, you make a lot of money and in Korea, you have no taxes

[앵커]

There was a report that a famous foreign YouTuber who is popular with Korea-related videos does not pay taxes to Korea.

If it really wasn’t paid or if you were required to pay taxes, we check with FactWye.

This is reporter Han Dong-oh.

[기자] [‘영국남자’ 유튜브 : 한국 김밥이라 그냥 그대로 드시면 돼요. (짱 좋네요. 이게 김밥이라는 건가요?) 네, 이게 김밥이에요. 정확해요. 진짜 맛있어요. 얘네는 한라봉이라고 하는데 한국 남쪽에 있는 섬에서 나는 과일이에요.]

The ‘British Man’ YouTube featuring Korean food and culture.

It was explosively popular with 4 million subscribers and 19 million views.

▲ In Korea, you can earn a lot of money on YouTube, and in Korea, taxes are 0 won?

This is the title of some press articles from the 14th.

It is noted that the YouTuber pays hundreds of millions of won in taxes to the British government, but does not pay a penny to Korea, which has the most subscribers.

However, this does not mean that a ‘British man’ does not pay taxes to Korea.

[조쉬 / 영국남자 유튜버 : 영국남자 채널의 한국 시청자 수는 58.3%였으며…. 저희는 한국과 영국에서 발생하는 수입에 대해 각 국가의 세법에 따라 성실하게 세금을 납부하고 있습니다.]

Income tax is paid on money earned from domestic activities, such as appearing on commercial broadcasts and filming.

▲ Should British man pay taxes to Korea?

In accordance with current law, the duty to pay taxes falls on national residents and, in the case of non-residents, it applies only when they have income from a national source.

It is true that no tax is applied because income earned through YouTube by a ‘British man’ who has a UK corporation is not counted as national income.

[서찬영 / 세무사 : 영국남자라는 채널 자체가 영국에 설립돼있는 외국 법인이고요 유튜브의 광고 수익이 배분되는 것은 국내 원천소득이라고 보기에는 좀 힘들어요.]

What I tried to point out in the office of National Assembly member Park Sung-jung, who cooperated with the data for the first time, is the unfair tax structure based on YouTubers’ nationality.

▲ Is the problem the tax structure of YouTubers?

There are concerns about tax evasion because YouTube users pay taxes by directly reporting their income.

Last year, 330 YouTubers reported their income in the industry of “a media creator.”

However, as of May, the number of Korean YouTubers with more than 100,000 subscribers reached 4,300, more than 10 times the number of reporters.

[김대지 / 국세청장 (12일 국정감사) : 실제로 저희도 유튜버 산업 관리에 좀 애로사항이 있습니다. 다른 업종이 어디에 있는지 표본조사도 해보고 해서 (유튜버 업종코드에) 반영을 하도록 하고요.]

The essence of intellectual property was fair taxes, but when some media picked up the exhilarating title of ‘The internal tax of famous YouTubers is 0 won’, the essence disappeared and only emotional criticism was poured against British YouTubers.

This is YTN Han Dong-oh.

Reporter Han Dong-oh [email protected]
Internal Reporter Lee Soo-hyun [email protected]

[저작권자(c) YTN & YTN plus 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]