Chinese Stars Reportedly Paid S$2.1bil In Overdue Tax Following Government Crackdown On Tax Evasion
Actor-director Wu Jing alone paid S$55mil in overdue tax. So just how much do they earn?
Chinese actresses Song Zu’er and Jiang Yiyi recently made headlines for tax evasion — something not uncommonly seen in Chinese showbiz.
The news has renewed interest in the tax expenses of celebs, with the topic trending on various social media sites.
A netizen recently posted a series of lists from 2018, detailing the stars who evaded tax payments and the sum of money they eventually paid up.
According to Chinese reports, in 2018 the total amount of tax owed by individuals in the film and television industry amounted to a whopping 117bil yuan (S$2.1bil).
China’s tax authority then gave the stars in question an extended deadline to complete their self-declaration and pay up any outstanding tax.
“117 billion, it’s been five years. It’s time for this list to be out in the open,” wrote the netizen, who then posted three separate photos containing the names of the celebs who paid their overdue taxes.
It also detailed the amount of supplementary tax payments made, which ranged from S$7mil to a whopping S$55mil.
One of the lists contains self-declarations made by key members of the film and television industry in Beijing. Of the 34 names, most are actors.
Although the names were blurred out, whoever did it clearly had no intention of keeping their identities confidential as it was easy to make out a number of names.
They were: Deng Chao, Na Ying, Yue Yunpeng, Du Chun, Shen Teng, Yan Ni, Huang Xuan, Feng Xiaogang, Qin Lan, Zhou Xun, Lu Han, Jiang Wen, and Gao Yuanyuan.
Another list, which is said to contain the actual record of people who paid up their overdue tax, was shared with the same blurred-out treatment.
Celebs in this list include Wu Jing, Dilireba, Zhou Xun, Huang Zitao, Li Bingbing, Zhao Liying, Liu Shishi, Deng Chao, Zhang Ziyi, Wang Feng, Huang Xiaoming, and Angelababy.
Wu Jing, who is best known for his work in the Wolf Warrior movies, is said to be the star who paid up 3bil yuan (S$55.9mil) in supplementary taxes. In 2018, the actor-director was reported to be dealing with tax-related issues.
The lists have not only shocked netizens, they also put into perspective just how much celebs in China earn.
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