Chinese government fines surrogacy controversy actress Zheng Shuang US$46.1 million for tax evasion

The tax evasion charge drew immediate comparisons to the Fan Bingbing case of 2018, when she was fined US$129 million

Zheng had already been the subject of a major controversy after getting caught in a surrogacy scandal

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Zheng Shuang felt the wrath of tax authorities and was fined US$46.1 million for pursuing a “yin and yang” contract. Photo: Getty Images

Published: 4:01pm, 27 Aug 2021Updated: 11:00pm, 28 Aug 2021

After becoming the source of public scorn for her role in a surrogacy scandal earlier this year, controversial actress Zheng Shuang now must pay a 299 million yuan (US$46.1 million) fine for tax evasion in a case that drew immediate comparisons to the saga of Fan Bingbing in 2018.

China’s State Tax Administration (STA) said on Friday that Zheng failed to declare 191 million yuan (US$29.5 million) in salary between 2019-2020, resulting in a tax evasion of 48 million yuan (US$7.4 million) and a further 26.5 million yuan (US$4.1 million) in underpaid taxes.

“The Zheng Shuang tax evasion case involves multiple regions, multiple companies and multiple performing arts projects across the country, and the case is complicated,” said a spokesperson for the STA.

“Over the past four months, comprehensive and in-depth inspections have been conducted on Zheng Shuang’s use of the ‘yin and yang contract’ for suspected tax evasion,” the spokesperson said.

Zheng is accused of using two contracts to mislead tax authorities about her true salary. Photo: Handout

Yin and yang contracts are when one covert contract details the true salary for a deal, and another contract, with a lower salary, is submitted to the tax authorities to lessen the tax burden for the perpetrators.

In the case of Zheng, the STA said a company owned by the actress was used to conceal the actual salary for her work on the television show A Chinese Ghost Story in 2019.

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