Jung Yong-soo, co-CEO of Jobis & Villains, which operates the tax filing and refund assistance service 'Samjeomsam' for small business owners and self-employed individuals in Korea, will step down. Along with Jung's resignation, it has been confirmed that Samjeomsam is planning a thorough review and a shift in direction for the business due to worsening external conditions and market trends.
According to industry sources on the 23rd, Jung will leave his position as co-CEO at the end of this month. Jung, who was appointed co-CEO in August 2023, has not yet completed two years in the role. After resigning as CEO, he will effectively step back from management to take on an advisory role, and all services of Samjeomsam and XAVIS Platform will revert to a single management system under CEO Baek Joo-seok.
Jung is known as the person who planned and launched Samjeomsam during his time as chief product officer (CPO) in 2020 and is referred to internally as 'the father of Samjeomsam.' Samjeomsam is a service that helps individuals in tax blind spots, such as freelancers, small business owners, and part-time workers, receive income tax refunds, gaining significant attention for its ability to identify hidden refund amounts with just a few steps, without the need for a tax accountant. The number of subscribers surpassed 10 million in 2022, reaching a cumulative total of 21 million subscribers and over 15 trillion won in cumulative refund claims by last year.
The issue was the conflict with tax accountant organizations. Samjeomsam, which aimed for a rapid growth towards a stock market listing, received a denial of approval for listing from the Korea Exchange's listing committee early last year. The conflict with tax accountant organizations and concerns about the sustainability of the business model were cited as risk factors. The tax accountant association has criticized Samjeomsam for encouraging tax evasion and illegal tax representation, ultimately filing a lawsuit against Samjeomsam with the prosecutor's office.
After more than four years of legal battles, Samjeomsam recently received a not-guilty verdict; however, during this time, several competitors, including Toss Income, have emerged, intensifying competition in the tax platform market. Amid recent server issues reported by some tax platforms, the National Tax Service launched a commission-free, no-cost refund service, while the tax accountant association is also aggressively marketing its expertise.
The consideration for a directional shift by Samjeomsam comes against this backdrop. Under the previous co-CEO system, Kim Beom-seob focused on discovering new business opportunities and market expansion, while Jung Yong-soo emphasized research and development of tax products centered on the Samjeomsam platform. However, due to worsening market conditions, it is anticipated that Samjeomsam's revenues will decline compared to the previous year, prompting discussions of business review and a shift, which industry insiders suggest has diminished Jung's position. Kim transferred his role as CEO to Baek at the end of last year while serving as chief growth officer (CGO).
However, Jobis & Villains will not be ending the operation of the Samjeomsam service. The company is currently operating an AI bookkeeping and accounting service 'XAVIS', a step-based event platform 'Luckies', and a platform for supporting tax accountant tasks 'Samjeomsam TA', but only Samjeomsam can be truly classified as a 'cash cow'. Jobis & Villains stated, 'This resignation decision is made as the company is poised for significant organizational restructuring and a shift in business direction.'