X-Men actress Fan Bingbing has denied tax evasion accusations following a probe by Chinese authorities.
According to SCMP, Fan Bingbing has denied evading tax following a probe by Chinese authorities.
Fan, known best in the west for her role as Blink in X-Men: Days of Future Past, was identified as a subject of a preliminary investigation in to tax evasion allegations.
Tax authorities in China have suspected that business celebrities are using a fraudulent dual-contract system to evade taxes.
China’s tax authorities have ordered an investigation into allegations that show business celebrities are evading taxes by using a fraudulent dual-contract system, state media reported on Sunday.
“The SAT [State Administration of Taxation] has ordered local tax bureaus in Jiangsu [a province in eastern China] to investigate and verify online allegations that certain television and movie actors evaded taxes by signing two contracts,” China Central Television reported.
Those found to have broken the law “will be punished accordingly”, it said.
Television presenter Cui Yongyuan published images of several documents on social media that were claimed to be copies of different contracts signed by Fan for the same job but for different fees. One document showed a figure of 10 million yuan whilst another showed a value of 50 million yuan.
Cui questioned what Fan had done with the other 50 million yuan and said he will cooperate with the investigation. “[I am] waiting for the tax bureau so that I can provide information and documents,” he said.
SAT have not named any particular celebrities in their investigation but the Wuxi Binhu taxation bureau did identify Fan as a subject of preliminary investigation.
Fan and her studio have denied the allegations. “The studio and Fan Bingbing will fully cooperate with the relevant authority. We hope the investigation result can be released soon to answer the public’s doubts,” an unidentified studio executive was quoted as saying.
