Netflix office in Seoul investigated for suspected tax avoidance

(Netflix)

The South Korean office of the global streaming giant Netflix is under investigation for possible tax avoidance, industry sources said Wednesday.

The sources said the National Tax Service (NTS) sent officials to Netflix Services Korea's headquarters in Seoul earlier in the day to launch their probe.

According to the sources, the NTS suspects Netflix Services Korea paid its US headquarters a large sum of phantom management consulting fees, so that the Seoul office would report a deficit and avoid paying corporate taxes.

An official with Netflix Services Korea confirmed that NTS officials had visited the office and said that Netflix was fully cooperating with the tax authorities. (Yonhap)