National Tax Service Imposes 23.9 Billion Won on 17 Tax-Evading YouTubers
The National Tax Service has been found to have collected a total of 23.9 billion won (approximately $17 million) in back taxes from 17 YouTubers who failed to pay their taxes properly despite earning hundreds of millions of won in 2025. According to data on "planned tax audit results for YouTubers, 2019–2025" submitted by the National Tax Service to Democratic Party Rep. Jung Tae-ho of the National Assembly's Strategy and Finance Committee on the 25th, regional tax offices audited 84 YouTubers over the past seven years, imposing a combined 47.5 billion won in taxes — an average of 565 million won per YouTuber. The levied taxes cover not only YouTube income but also earnings from other businesses run by the individuals.
As the amounts imposed have grown year by year, the average tax levied per YouTuber reached 1.4 billion won last year. The number audited totaled 22 over the four years from 2019 to 2022, but rose to 24 in 2023 alone, followed by 21 in 2024 and 17 last year. Taxes imposed also climbed from 5.6 billion won over 2019–2022 to 9.1 billion won in 2023 and 8.9 billion won in 2024, before jumping to 23.9 billion won last year — more than double the seven-year per-person average of 565 million won.
Rep. Jung said, "Cases of large-scale tax evasion are continually being identified in the individual earnings of one-person media creators such as YouTubers, including donations and sponsorship money," adding, "Authorities should encourage honest reporting to prevent taxation blind spots while continuously addressing gaps in the system."
The audit results reflect a trend of tax authorities stepping up enforcement as one-person media earnings grow. In February, the National Tax Service selected 16 business operators suspected of tax evasion for audits, including three operators of malicious cyber wreckers, seven YouTubers in the real estate and tax fields, and six YouTubers who spread false or inappropriate content. For one-person creators like YouTubers, this means the likelihood of facing a tax audit increases if they fail to report their earnings faithfully.
