Pop star ordered to pay big tax bill

Chinese pop star Deng Lun, who was embroiled in a tax evasion scandal, will have to pay 106 million yuan ($16.6 million) in unpaid taxes, overdue fees and fines, Shanghai's taxation authority said on Tuesday.

It said Deng did not truthfully declare part of his personal income earned from 2019 to 2020, evading 47.6 million yuan in taxes. He also failed to pay 13.9 million yuan in other taxes.

The authority said Deng was cooperative with the investigation and took the initiative to pay back part of the tax and also confessed to other illegal tax issues unknown to the authority, which led to a lenient fine of half the amount possible.

However, he failed to pay back 3 million yuan of evaded taxation during the process despite being warned by the authority, leading to a punitive fine of four times that amount.

The 31-year-old actor apologized on his Weibo social media account, saying that he accepted the decisions and would bear all the relevant responsibilities and consequences.

A number of enterprises have terminated their brand ambassador contracts with Deng, including snacks producer Jiujiuya and home appliance manufacturer Viomi, which ended its contract with Deng just two weeks after it was announced.

China has been strengthening regular tax investigations targeting entertainers in a bid to create a healthy environment in the entertainment industry, according to a notice issued by the State Taxation Administration last year.

Celebrities are required to set up tax accounts for their studios or businesses, and have tax declarations and payments audited and verified by authorities.

In August, Chinese actress Zheng Shuang, who was also involved in a tax evasion scandal, was required to pay 299 million yuan in unpaid taxes, overdue fees and fines. In 2018, famous actress Fan Bingbing was ordered to pay 883 million yuan to cover back taxes and fines.

In December, popular livestreamer Huang Wei, known online as Viya, was ordered by the Hangzhou taxation bureau in Zhejiang province to pay 1.34 billion yuan in back taxes, late fees and fines for tax evasion. According to the authorities, Huang had falsely declared her livestreaming commissions as operating income of sole proprietorships, and also concealed some commissions.