The National Tax Service is currently conducting a tax audit targeting fashion platform Ably.
On the 14th, the National Tax Service announced it would carry out tax audits on 41 companies suspected of tax evasion for inciting price instability. Among them were two fashion platforms: Musinsa, which was identified the previous day, and another company confirmed to be Ably.
According to industry sources on the 15th, the National Tax Service is actively conducting a tax audit against Ably. The company stated, "We understand this as a routine tax audit," adding that it is difficult to confirm specific details of the investigation.
Ably is a fashion platform established in 2015 by founder Kang Seok-hun (CEO). It officially launched its business in 2018 with the release of its app and is known to primarily serve women in their teens and twenties. Last year, its platform gross merchandise value (GMV) reached approximately 2.8 trillion won, positioning it alongside Musinsa as one of Korea's major style commerce platforms.
Ably grew by alleviating initial seller listing fees and fixed fee burdens while leveraging influencer-based marketing. It built a system that resolves both product sales and delivery for sellers in one step and has recently expanded its categories beyond fashion to include beauty and household goods.
Ably Corporation, the operating company of Ably, reported revenues of 369.7 billion won and an operating profit of 4.4 billion won last year. Its revenue scale grew approximately fourfold compared to 2021.
While the company described the audit as routine, the National Tax Service is expected to conduct in-depth investigations across various aspects of Ably's business.
In its announcement the previous day, the National Tax Service pointed out that the two fashion platforms included in this investigation "exploited their dominant position to create upward pressure on prices across the entire fashion market." It further noted that they "imposed high fee rates on listed companies by leveraging their superior platform usage rates, thereby shifting burdens onto them, or suddenly raised prices."
It also revealed that suspicions were confirmed regarding "intentional omission of sales through irregular accounting practices, excessive payments for advertising and service fees to related entities, and inflating costs through high-priced inventory purchases."
Regarding the National Tax Service's additional allegation of "profit-seeking behavior where a company leased a high-end apartment under its corporate name for personal use by its owner," Musinsa responded that there was no such issue.
Meanwhile, Musinsa, identified yesterday as a target of the tax audit, is reportedly linked to a special tax investigation conducted by four countries at the end of August. Industry observers suggest the background of the audit stemmed from fund transaction flows between founder Cho Man-ho, who serves as the chief executive officer, and Raphael, a real estate investment company he separately established in 2020. Raphael is currently engaged in senior residence development projects in the Hannam-dong area of Yongsan-gu, Seoul.
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