Shocking Tax Evasion by Song Zu’er Revealed
The recent tax evasion scandal involving Song Zu’er has left the Chinese public in shock. On August 27, Sohu reported the findings of a nearly year-long investigation into the actress’s tax evasion activities. Song Zu’er, the star of the drama “Lotus Lantern Prequel,” exploited legal loopholes to evade taxes amounting to 1.4 million yuan. Consequently, she has been ordered to pay back the evaded amount along with a late fee of 1.29 million yuan, bringing the total sum she must pay to 2.71 million yuan.
Chinese audiences were astonished to learn that the actual amount of tax Song Zu’er evaded was not 45 million yuan (over 6.1 million USD), as had been previously alleged. The public’s disappointment was further compounded by the fact that the actress, who earns hundreds of millions of yuan annually, chose to evade taxes on a relatively small amount compared to her income, leading to significant damage to her career. Notably, an audio recording revealed that this was not the first time Song Zu’er had committed such an offense; she had engaged in tax evasion on three previous occasions.
Song Zu’er, who rose to fame as a child star, is now regarded as one of the most promising actresses of her generation in the Chinese entertainment industry. Between 2017 and 2022, her total earnings amounted to 317 million yuan, of which she retained 190 million yuan while her management company, Xitian, kept 127 million yuan. With tax rates for Chinese artists reaching 40-50%, the amount of tax Song Zu’er should have paid was 135 million yuan.
As the tax evasion scandal became the focus of public attention, Song Zu’er’s representatives issued a statement denying all allegations, asserting that the actress had not broken any laws and had not been penalized for tax evasion. However, this response was deemed too late, as the controversy had been brewing for nearly a year.
Like many other celebrities, Song Zu’er established several private companies to split her income and evade taxes. Since 2017, she had founded and invested in four different companies, three of which operated only briefly before being dissolved. Currently, the actress holds control over just one company, and the dissolution of the other entities is suspected to be an attempt to cover up illegal activities.
This scandal has caused significant financial losses for Song Zu’er’s partners, estimated at over 1 billion yuan. She was the lead actress in several major film projects with high production costs, including those by iQIYI, Tencent… These projects took years to complete. Among them is the film “The Prisoner of Beauty,” directed by Deng Ke, which had been in development for four years. This project, the first produced by Deng’s own company, now faces the possibility of being permanently shelved.
