Actress Fan Bingbing faces huge tax demand
BEIJING: Chinese tax authorities have ordered X-Men star Fan Bingbing and companies she represents to pay taxes and penalties totaling US$130 million (4.2 billion baht), ending months of speculation over one of the country’s highest-profile entertainers since she disappeared from public view three months ago.
Of the total amount, Fan is being personally fined around $70 million for tax evasion, according to an announcement carried by China’s official Xinhua News Agency yesterday, citing tax authorities. Fan would not be investigated for criminal responsibility for tax evasion as long as the taxes, fines and late fees amounting to nearly 900 million yuan were paid on time, the report said. The announcement gave no indication as to Fan’s whereabouts but indicated her agent was being held by police for allegedly obstructing the investigation.
Fan has starred in dozens of movies and TV series in China and is best known internationally for her role as Blink in 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, a cameo in the Chinese version of Iron Man 3, and star turns on the red carpet at Cannes as recently as May. Before her disappearance, she had been booked to star with Penelope Cruz in the Hollywood film 355. She has a role in the upcoming Bruce Willis-Adrien Brody feature Air Strike.
Fan posted an apology on her official account on the social media site Weibo saying that she accepts the tax authorities’ decision and would “try my best to overcome all difficulties and raise funds to pay back taxes and fines”.
“I am unworthy of the trust of society and let down the fans who love me,’’ she wrote. Her disappearance coincided with a crackdown by the authorities on high salaries for actors that can eat up much of the cost of a production.