Film-TV industry faces tax scrutiny
Print Edition
China will launch a tax evasion investigation into the country’s film and television industry, the tax bureau said in a statement posted on its official website on Sunday.
Some of the country’s most famous actors have been accused of signing so-called “yin-yang” contracts — one contract setting out agreed payment terms and a second one with a lower figure for the tax authorities to avoid payment of tax.
China’s cinema market is worth US$8.6 billion.
An index tracking major media firms dropped 1.3 percent to a near four-year low yesterday.
The crackdown was prompted after a row erupted between Chinese TV presenter Cui Yongyuan and superstar actress Fan Bingbing, star of X-Men: Days of Future Past and Skiptrace.
Cui posted images of multiple documents on a social media account that he claimed were copies of different contracts signed by the actress for the same job.
Fan, a big star in China, has denied wrongdoing and hired lawyers to defend herself.
The State Administration of Taxation didn’t name the actress in its statement of intent but has asked local bureaus in the eastern province of Jiangsu, among others, to carry out investigations.
“If violations of tax laws and rules are found, they will be dealt with in accordance with the law,” said the SAT.
The last time a high-profile artist was entangled in a tax investigation was in 2002, when actress Liu Xiaoqing was imprisoned for a year for tax evasion.
So-called “yin-yang” contract — a widely used expression in China meaning real and fake agreements operating side-by-side — was reportedly used in some acquisitions involving real estate and football clubs in China.
This latest move by the government continues its theme of tackling corruption in the lucrative entertainment sector. Last year it launched a campaign to tackle box office fraud.
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