China’s X-Men actress Fan Bingbing denies tax evasion accusations as probe launched

China’s tax authorities have ordered an investigation into allegations that show business celebrities are evading taxes by using a fraudulent dual contract system, state media reported on Sunday.

“The SAT [State Administration of Taxation] has ordered local tax bureaus in Jiangsu [a province in eastern China] to investigate and verify online allegations that certain television and movie actors evaded taxes by signing two contracts,” China Central Television reported.

Anyone found to have broken the law “will be punished accordingly”, it said.

X-Men actress Fan Bingbing hits back at fugitive tycoon Guo Wengui with US lawsuit

The news came after an online row erupted between well-known television presenter Cui Yongyuan and the actress Fan Bingbing.

Last week, Cui published images of several documents on his verified social media account that he claimed were copies of different contracts signed by Fan for the same job, with the principal difference between them being the size of the actress’s fee.

In one of the documents the figure was 10 million yuan (US$1.6 million) and in the other, Cui said the contract was valued at 60 million yuan. He did not name Fan directly in the second document.

Alongside the images – and his childish insults of the Hollywood actress – Cui asked what Fan had done with the missing 50 million yuan.

While the SAT did not name any celebrities in its statement, the Wuxi Binhu taxation bureau, which administers tax affairs in the region where Fan’s film studio is registered, did identify her as the subject of a preliminary investigation into the allegations, Global Times reported on Sunday.

Fan Bingbing’s studio on Sunday night denied the studio or Fan had ever signed separate contracts for one job.

China’s ‘X-Men’ star Fan Bingbing joins Forbes’ list of Hollywood’s biggest-earning actresses

“The studio and Fan Bingbing will fully cooperate with relevant authority. We hope the investigation result can be released soon to answer the public doubt,” an unidentified studio executive was quoted as saying on Sina.com.

Cui was quoted by Chengdu Business News as saying he was willing to cooperate with the tax authority on its investigation.

On Sunday night, he told China National Radio that the relevant authorities had already contacted him.

“[I am] waiting for the tax bureau so that I can provide information and documents,” he was quoted as saying. Cui has yet to respond to the South China Morning Post’s request for comments.

Fan, 36, rose to stardom with a minor part in the period drama My Fair Princess in 1998. In 2014, she appeared in the Hollywood blockbuster X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Forbes listed her as the world’s fifth-highest paid actress in 2016, with earnings of US$17 million.

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018.