Authorities audited 169 influencers this year, exposing shell companies, hidden income, and loopholes in China’s booming livestream economy.
China’s tax authorities have recovered nearly 900 million yuan ($124 million) in unpaid taxes after auditing 169 online influencers in 2024.
At a press conference Tuesday marking the launch of China’s 34th annual National Tax Awareness Month, the State Taxation Administration (STA) underscored its efforts to combat tax evasion in high-risk industries and among high-profile individuals, including celebrities and online influencers.
“We firmly uphold the principle that combating tax evasion is the greatest protection for law-abiding taxpayers,” said Guo Shunmin, the director of STA’s inspection bureau.
China’s livestreaming industry has grown rapidly in recent years, creating new jobs and driving consumer spending. In 2023, the sector generated 209.5 billion yuan in revenue, up 5.15% from the previous year, according to the China Association of Performing Arts. By 2024, the broader online audiovisual industry — including livestreaming, short videos, and ultrashort dramas — reached a total market size of 1.22 trillion yuan.
But in recent years, high-profile tax evasion cases involving top influencers have drawn growing public scrutiny and criticism.
The issue made headlines in 2021, when a top livestreamer, Huang Wei, better known as Viya, was found to have evaded more than 640 million yuan in taxes by concealing income and submitting false declarations. She was fined 1.34 billion yuan and has not returned to livestreaming since.
According to China’s 2025 annual report on internet audiovisual services, the number of professional livestreamers has surpassed 38 million, with more than 800 million users tuning in as of last year.
Livestreamers typically earn income through product placements, sales commissions, virtual gifts, salaries, and service fees. Under China’s Individual Income Tax Law, annual earnings above 960,000 yuan are taxed at the top rate of 45%. Sole proprietorships, however, can deduct expenses, lowering their taxable income, with a maximum tax rate of 35%.
Since 2024, tax authorities have exposed at least 10 livestreamers for tax evasion, using the incidents as warnings. Offenders were ordered to repay millions in taxes and fines, with common violations including concealed commission earnings, falsified tax declarations, and setting up shell companies to reclassify personal income as business revenue to benefit from lower tax rates.
One of the cases announced Tuesday involves Yue Chuanqu, a controversial relationship influencer selling online courses. Shanghai tax officials found discrepancies between the high prices of her courses — over 3,000 yuan each — and her declared personal income, which totaled just over 600,000 yuan across two years.
Further investigation found that Yue had concealed income from her online store and used shell companies to misreport personal service earnings as business revenue under a preferential tax scheme.
She was ordered to repay 7.58 million yuan in unpaid taxes, late fees, and fines under China’s tax laws, which allow for penalties ranging from 50% to five times the amount evaded.
Experts say such cases highlight the enforcement challenges in probing the complex financial structures of influencers and their affiliations with platforms and intermediaries.
“Some livestreamers collude with platforms and intermediaries to conceal income through related parties, further complicating regulatory oversight,” Hao Xiaowei, an associate professor of taxation from Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, told domestic media. “Currently, China’s laws on tax information sharing remain incomplete, preventing authorities from accessing real-time tax data from livestreaming and payment platforms.”
To address these loopholes, regulators have introduced stricter regulations in recent years. A 2022 guideline jointly issued by the Cyberspace Administration, the State Taxation Administration, and the State Administration for Market Regulation requires livestreaming platforms to report earnings of profit-generating streamers every six months.
As part of this year’s tax awareness campaign, authorities also plan to launch training sessions for livestreamers, though details are yet to be released.
Additional reporting: Lu Zhiyi; editor: Apurva.
(Header image: VCG)