Chinese Actress Zheng Shuang Fined Over $46 Million for Tax Evasion

Zheng Shuang is facing an enormous fine.

The 30-year-old Meteor Shower Chinese actress was hit with a fine for 299 million yuan (approximately $46.1 million) for a “yin and yang contract,” via South China Morning Post on Friday (August 27).

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China’s State Tax Administration said she failed to declare 191 million yuan (about $29.5 million) in her salary from 2019 to 2020, resulting in a tax evasion of 48 million yuan (about $4.7 million), and a further 26.5 million yuan (about $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,” a spokesperson told SCMP.

“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.”

“Yin and yang contracts” are when contracts are drawn up with the true salary for a deal, and then another contract with a lower salary gets submitted to the authorities in order to lessen tax burdens.

A company owned by the star reportedly concealed her actual salary for 2019′s A Chinese Ghost Story.

The STA said she is unlikely to face criminal charges as long as she pays her fine.

The news comes after Zheng Shuang was also involved in a separate scandal earlier in 2021, when she was accused by former partner, producer Zhang Heng, of abandoning two children born in America through surrogate mothers.

According to South China Morning Post, the STA said her ex Zhang was also involved in the tax evasion scheme, but ended up becoming a whistleblower and helping out the tax authorities. It’s unclear whether Zhang will also face fines.

The case has also drawn comparisons to Fan Bingbing‘s own tax evasion scandal a few years ago.