Paid Rp.355 Billion For 50 Episodes Of A Series, Chinese Actress Zheng Shuang Is Suspected Of Embezzling Taxes

Zheng Shuang (Instagram/@zhengshuang.official)

JAKARTA - Chinese authorities are investigating top Chinese actress Zheng Shuang for evading taxes and receiving a sky-high salary exceeding government-approved limits, Xinhua news agency said Wednesday, April 28.

This marks the biggest case of suspected celebrity tax fraud since the Fan Bingbing case.

The investigation was launched after screenshots emerged that allegedly showed him being paid US $ 24.6 million (approx Rp.355 billion) for 77 days of filming - US $ 320,000 (approx Rp.4.6 billion) a day - for his role in the upcoming 50-episode series A Chinese Ghost Story.

The project is supported by Tencent and the troubled but still leading production company Beijing Culture, among other companies.

The extraordinary number will make Zheng, 29, become one of the highest paid actresses in the world, more than Meryl Streep has earned in all of 2020.

This is a payout that is more than double what Gal Gadot made for Wonder Woman 1984 ($ 10 million) or Margot Robbie for Birds of Prey ($ 9-10 million), and more than five times what Joaquin Phoenix made. for her Oscar-winning performance in Joker ($ 4.5 million), as reported by Variety on Thursday.

Last year, the three highest paid actresses in the world were Sofia Vergara, who made US $ 43 million, Angelina Jolie (US $ 35.5 million), and Gal Gadot (US $ 31.5 million), according to Forbes.

The screenshot appears in a video posted to Weibo by his ex-girlfriend, producer Zhang Heng.

The couple became known for another viral scandal in January after Zhang accused Zheng of abandoning her and their two US-born children through surrogacy.

Zhang accused Zheng of refusing to proceed with the legal process that would allow them to leave the United States and return to China. The issue sparked a national debate about the practice of surrogacy, which is illegal in China.

This time, Zhang's screenshot reveals a discussion between the couple and his parents about salary negotiations. He was initially offered $ 23.1 million for the job, but tried to bid up to $ 27.8 million.

He also said that he had abandoned his pet dog after being sick and he did not want to pay the $ 300 maintenance fee.

China's top media governing body decided in 2018 that most actors should receive salaries equivalent to no more than 40 percent of production costs for films and TV works, and that lead actors could be paid a maximum of 70 percent of the total budget. Subsequent statements from production companies and streamers stated that actors should not be paid more than US $ 7.7 million per production - less than a third of Zheng's alleged catch.

The Shanghai Municipal Tax Bureau and the Beijing Municipal Radio and TV Bureau are currently investigating Mr. Zheng.

Zhang alleges that her former lover was guilty of using a "yin-yang" contract - a duplicate contract in which a lower amount is reported on the contract sent to the tax bureau and the remainder of the payment appears in another contract.

Zheng signed one contract indicating his salary would be below the US $ 7.3 million threshold, and another sent the remaining expenses to companies apparently linked to his mother, he said.

In 2018, Fan Bingbing was found guilty of using the same “yin-yang” contract system. He was fined more than $ 136 million in fines and back taxes and has been out of the public eye for months.