Chinese Actress investigated for tax fraud

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Former high-profile actress, Zheng Shuang, is at the center of a controversy after allegedly being paid 160 million yuan for one TV series. The amount alleged is much higher than claimed on her taxes, and more than is allowed to be paid to a lead actor, according to entertainment industry regulations.

Zheng replied on Thursday that she will cooperate with all the investigations and the result will be announced to the public.

On Monday, her former partner, Zhang Heng, posted a video on Weibo that included screenshots of alleged chats between himself, Zheng, and her parents.

According to the screenshots, Zheng negotiated 160 million yuan which covered 77 filming days, and brought her daily net gain to 2.08 million yuan.

According to CCTV, the Shanghai Municipal Tax Service and Beijing Municipal Radio and Television Bureau declared that they are investigating Zheng’s case, including her alleged fraudulent contracts, saying that they strictly control production costs for TV dramas, and payment for actors.

China’s National Radio and Television Administration created new rules in 2018, saying that celebrities invited to appear in movies and TV shows should not be paid more than 40 percent of the total production cost, with the main actors getting paid less than 70 percent of that percentage.

This new controversy comes just three months after Zheng Shuang was accused of abandoning her two children born to US-based surrogate mothers.

“Tax evasion is a high-voltage line; you will definitely be finished when you run into it,” China Daily commented on its Weibo account.

“Is Zheng Shuang the only one who needs to be investigated? Can other celebrity studios come up with an innocent account? Take this as an opportunity to promote industry-wide rectification and ensure the healthy development of the industry and prevent people facing high temptations from poor decisions.”

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