Earlier this week saw massive fines, totalling almost ¥100 million, levied against two live streaming broadcast hosts for the non payment of personal income tax. And one of the ladies in question also happens to be a Nanjinger.
Lin Shanshan (林珊珊), a professional model signed to Hong Kong-based Lam & Lamb Entertainment, was placed in the top 60 in the national finals of the 2011 China Beauty Festival.
Obviously determined that their daughter become a famous celebrity of some sort, Lin’s parents gave her the same Chinese name as 80s Cantopop queen, Sandy Lamb. Lin would in due course take the same English name as well. And subsequently be signed to the same agency.
More recently, the now-30-year-old Nanjinger took to being a live streaming broadcast host in 2019, using her status as an influencer for product promotion.
And it’s the non payment of personal tax on the income generated therefrom which has landed Lin in trouble, to the tune of ¥27.6725 million to be exact, reports Nanjing Daily.
But that sum is almost paltry compared to the fine dished out on the lady with whom Lin was acting in cohort.
Zhu Chenhui (朱宸慧) was ranked among the top three live streaming broadcast hosts on the first day of Taobao’s Double 11 promotion last year.
That means the 31-year old native of Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province, who is Chairwoman and CEO of Hangzhou Chenfan e-Commerce, was seriously raking it in. And like her partner in crime, Zhu was not paying tax on her earnings.
During the tax authorities’ investigations, it was determined that Lin and Zhu had established sole proprietorships in Shanghai, Guangxi, Jiangxi and other places between 2019 and 2020. They then transferred their personal salary and expenses to the proprietorships, disguising it as operating income, thus evading personal income tax.
Following calculations made by Hangzhou City’s taxation bureau, Zhu was handed a fine of ¥65.5531 million on 22 November.
Zhu posted an official apology for her actions on her Weibo account at 17:58 the same day. Lin did likewise 2 minutes later. Both therein claim a lack in knowledge of tax law.
The colossal penalties incurred by the two this week come against the wider backdrop that is a crackdown on celebrity fan culture by central government.
Calling the culture “chaotic”, authorities are ordering all sorts of broadcasters to “help curb the phenomenon after a series of celebrity scandals involving tax evasion and sexual assault”, reported Reuters yesterday, 23 November.
The fines levied against Lin and Zhu are just the beginning. Taxation authorities have also determined that one Li Zhiqiang is suspected of planning, implementing and helping the two ladies to evade taxes, and interfering with the investigation.
The are also at present additional investigations under way into non payment of personal income tax by numerous other live streaming broadcast hosts.
