KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 — Chinese actor Deng Lun has been slapped with a 106 million yuan (RM69.96 million) fine for evading taxes.
In a statement, the 30-year-old with over 40 million followers on Weibo, apologised for his behaviour.
“I have deeply reflected on myself. I am willing to undertake all the responsibilities and consequences,” he was quoted as saying by Global Times.
His social media accounts, including Weibo and Douyin, had since been suspended.
According to Shanghai’s tax authority, Deng evaded personal income tax of 47.66 million yuan (RM31.46 million) and underpaid personal income tax of 13.99 million yuan (RM9.23 million) between 2019 and 2020 by making false declarations.
According to the authorities, Deng could have faced a higher fine but he had actively cooperated with them during investigations and took the initiative to pay back 44.55 million Yuan (RM29.4 million) of tax.
He also reported other tax-related activities that were missed by authorities.
Following the development, consumer product manufacturer Viomi Technology and cosmetic manufacturer L’Oreal announced they would terminate their partnerships with Deng.
One of the more popular actors in China, Deng is known for his Netflix TV drama Ashes of Love.
Deng is the latest public figure to be hauled up for evading taxes.
In December last year, China’s top livestreamer Huang Wei, also known as Viya, was fined 1.34 billion yuan (RM884.4 million) for dodging taxes.
Chinese actress Zheng Shuang was in August 2021 ordered to pay 299 million yuan (RM197.3 million) in fines, taxes and penalties for tax evasion.
Fellow actress Fan Bingbing was in October 2018 ordered to pay more than 800 million yuan (RM527.98 million) in tax and fines.
