Viya: China's top live broadcaster fined $210 million for tax evasion
Written byTimes Magazine
China's leading live broadcaster was fined 1.34 billion yuan ($210 million; £160 million) for tax evasion. Huang Wei, known as Via, is an internet celebrity with tens of millions of followers. It has used its platform to sell a wide variety of products.
Hangzhou authorities accused him of hiding his income and other financial crimes between 2019 and 2020. He said he was "very sorry" in a post on his Weibo account. "I fully accept the penalty imposed by the tax authorities," the statement said.
The 36-year-old has become a significant internet celebrity in China, driven by the rapid growth of online shopping.
Known in the country as "the queen of live broadcasts," she has sold everything from noodles to commercial rocket launches on the online shopping platform Taobao. According to Reuters, Via was scheduled to host a cosmetics event on Monday evening before her streaming account went offline.
Due to his colossal platform, he will be listed on Time Magazine's List of 100 Influential People in 2021. Viya is one of China's most popular influencers or vloggers for online sales. However, the tide quickly turned on him due to the heavy tax evasion fines.
One of the most popular hashtags from Sina Weibo in China is #ViyaCompletelyBlockedOnline. As sales agents tried to remove their presence, their Weibo account with 18 million followers no longer exists, and media reports say their accounts on eBay-like shopping platform Taobao have also been canceled.
The Global Times said his sentence was a "warning to others." However, there have been signs that China has been looking to reform its industry over the past month. China has the largest live streaming industry in the world. There are more than 400 million vloggers or video bloggers in the country.
Last month, online influencers were banned from recommending online promotions, and 88 celebrities received "warnings" about live content. Two other well-known live broadcasters, Zhu Chenhui and Lin Shanshan, received fines of $10.2 million and $4.3 million, respectively, and their Weibo accounts were deleted.
The China Daily said at the time that "investigations and penalties against tax evaders will be stepped up to create a fair tax environment."
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