Representative of a subcontractor accused of issuing false tax invoices worth KRW 1.4 billion... Acquitted by proving actual construction

The representative of a shipbuilding company's partner company was sent to the prosecution on suspicion of tax evasion by issuing false tax invoices worth over a billion won in someone else's name, but was cleared of the charges by proving that he actually provided construction services under a different name.

According to the legal community on the 2nd, the Tongyeong branch of the Changwon District Prosecutors' Office decided not to indict Mr. A, in his 30s, who was sent in February on charges of violating the Tax Criminal Punishment Act. Mr. A, who runs a shipyard subcontracting company, was accused of creating a business in the name of another person, including a family member, for the purpose of avoiding taxes, and issuing false tax invoices worth 1.4 billion won dozens of times.

However, although it is true that Mr. A operated a business in the name of another person, he denied the charges, stating that it was not a fictitious transaction in which only tax invoices were issued without actual transactions. Although he ran several work teams with his family, in reality he carried out the construction as one company, claiming that only the name of the tax invoice issuer was different and construction services were normally provided to the main contractor.

The prosecution determined that Mr. A's claim was true based on the content of the conversation he had with the employees of the supply team via messenger and the details of remittance of the construction payment received from the main contractor to the team members.

Subsequently, even if a tax invoice was issued in the name of another person, if the actual service was provided according to the information stated in the tax invoice, the case was not charged due to insufficient evidence according to the Supreme Court precedent that it cannot be considered a fake tax invoice issued without a transaction.

Attorney Jo Ik-cheon of Daeryun Law Firm, who represented Mr. A, said, "We presented objective evidence that Mr. A's work team actually provided construction services to the main contractor. We logically explained the shipbuilding industry's multi-level subcontracting practices and the legal principles of the Supreme Court precedent, and we were able to get a non-prosecution by proving that there was no intention in the fictitious transaction."

Reporter Jeong Cheol-wook

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Representative of a subcontractor accused of issuing false tax invoices worth KRW 1.4 billion... Acquitted of charges by proving actual construction (link)