A Chinese influencer known as the "queen of livestreaming" has been ordered to pay $204 million (1.3 billion yuan) for tax evasion, authorities said Monday, the biggest fine of its kind in Beijing's crackdown on celebrities.

Huang Wei, known by her username Viya, is one of China's most popular e-commerce influencers with over 110 million followers on social media.

Tax authorities in the eastern province of Zhejiang said that between 2019 and 2020 she "evaded 643 million yuan of taxes through means such as concealing personal income and false declarations of income."

"A total of 1.341 billion yuan was imposed on Huang Wei in the collection of taxes, additional late fees and fines," authorities said in an online statement.

Beijing launched a broader crackdown on tax evasion and immoral behaviour in the entertainment industry earlier this year that has also impacted online influencers and celebrity fan groups.

Last month, two Chinese livestreamers were fined $14 million by Zhejiang tax authorities.

Viya posted a lengthy apology on the Twitter-like social media platform Weibo.

"During the investigation, I realised my actions indeed violated tax laws and regulations, I am very remorseful and apologise to the public," she said.

"I fully accept the tax department's relevant punishment decision made against me in accordance with law."

The tightening has overlapped with the launch of Chinese President Xi Jinping's "common prosperity" initiative to reduce economic inequality, which heralded a drive to reduce excessive incomes in sectors such as entertainment and tech.

Viya was previously fined 530,000 yuan ($83,000) in June for violating advertisement laws, after fans accused her of allegedly hawking counterfeit products.

During the wider crackdown, a series of scandals took down some of China's biggest entertainers.

Chinese actress Zheng Shuang was hit with a $46 million fine for tax evasion.

At the time, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television said it had "zero tolerance" for tax evasion and entertainers' "sky-high pay".

Related Links
Satellite-based Internet technologies

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

EU lawmakers back rules to curb Big Tech
Strasbourg, France (AFP) Dec 15, 2021
The European Parliament on Wednesday approved its proposal for major EU legislation to impose unprecedented restrictions on how tech giants do business. Lawmakers overwhelmingly voted in favour of their version of the Digital Markets Act, aimed at slapping far-reaching rules on behemoths like Meta/Facebook, Alphabet/Google, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft. The landmark legislation should give the EU unprecedented powers to act quickly against these tech "gatekeepers" and impose a strict list of Do's ... read more