China’s entertainment industry is once again in the spotlight—not for glitzy premieres or high-budget dramas, but for a sweeping crackdown on tax evasion.
According to a report by China’s State Administration of Taxation released on December 8, a total of 1,818 high-income individuals, including celebrities and internet influencers, were investigated for tax violations in the first 11 months of 2025. These “high-income, high-net-worth” individuals were defined as those earning more than ¥1 million RMB (about NT$4.4 million) annually or holding over ¥10 million RMB in investable assets.
The crackdown resulted in the recovery of ¥1.523 billion RMB (approximately NT$6.5 billion), combining both unpaid taxes and late fees. On average, each person owed about ¥840,000 RMB (around NT$3.7 million).
The move echoes past high-profile tax scandals—Fan Bingbing, once one of China’s top actresses, remains a cautionary tale after her 2018 tax evasion case led to years of being blacklisted. She only recently began returning to public life.
One notable case in the 2025 crackdown involves automotive influencer Chen Zhen, who reportedly failed to report significant income earned from short video platforms between 2021 and 2023. He only declared his 2023 income, and the figures he reported were “seriously inconsistent with actual earnings.” Authorities eventually confirmed tax evasion and penalized him accordingly. He is said to owe over ¥2 million RMB (around NT$8.8 million).
This latest sweep is part of China’s broader push to regulate the booming entertainment and influencer economy, which has become a massive source of income for many—and, increasingly, a target for tax scrutiny.
Authorities have vowed to continue monitoring tax compliance within the high-income group, signaling that the days of easy money and loose accounting are over in China’s celebrity sphere.
Sources: ETtoday星光雲
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