I've been reported for tax evasion. What kind of punishment do I receive for tax evasion?

If you are reported for tax evasion, you will be punished under the Punishment of Tax Offenses Act.

If you evaded taxes or received a refund/deduction by fraud or other unlawful means, you will face imprisonment of up to 2 years or a fine of up to 2 times the evaded tax amount or refunded/deducted tax amount.

In particular, if the evaded tax amount is 300 million won or more and 30% or more of the tax amount that should be reported and paid, or if the evaded tax amount is 500 million won or more, imprisonment of up to 3 years or a fine of up to 3 times the evaded tax amount is imposed.

In actual practice, when there are tax evasion charges of a certain amount or more or evidence collection is required, a tax offense investigation is conducted after deliberation by the Tax Offense Investigation Deliberation Committee.

In this process, if active tax evasion acts such as keeping double books, creating false evidence/documents, destroying books or records, hiding property, transaction manipulation or concealment, and exchanging false tax invoices are confirmed, legal dispositions such as notification dispositions or accusations are imposed.

If you are reported for tax evasion, imprisonment and fine sentences may be imposed concurrently under the Punishment of Tax Offenses Act, but if certain requirements are met, the sentence may be reduced.

Therefore, since tax evasion charges are serious, you should respond strategically from the beginning with the assistance of a specialist attorney, through which you can also pursue sentence reduction or minimization of disadvantages.