Recently, the news that Internet celebrity Xiao Ma Ge was recovered and fined a total of 3.17 million yuan by the Inspection Bureau of the Luoyang Municipal Taxation Bureau of the State Administration of Taxation for suspected tax evasion of 2.07 million yuan has attracted widespread attention. This incident once again pushed the problem of tax evasion by Internet celebrities to the cusp.
In fact, this is not an isolated case of tax evasion by Internet celebrities. As early as two years ago, another Internet celebrity with tens of millions of followers, "Sister Wei Ya", was also fined 13 on suspicion of tax evasion4.1 billion yuan. These incidents have exposed serious tax issues in the influencer economy.
Why do influencers like to evade taxes? We first need to understand the taxation of influencers. There are four main types of income for online celebrity anchors, including individual anchors signing labor contracts with the platform, conducting live broadcasts in an independent capacity, independently establishing studios and signing cooperation with the platform, and individuals signing contracts with brokerage companies. Either way, influencer anchors need to pay various taxes such as personal income tax, value-added tax, and additional tax.
However, many big anchors have almost half of their personal income tax deducted, plus various rebates and operating costs, and they are dissatisfied. As a result, some influencers choose to avoid paying taxes in an attempt to reduce their tax payments. This kind of tax evasion not only exists in big anchors such as Internet celebrities Xiao Ma Ge and Wei Ya Sister, but also many unknown small anchors are also trying similar behaviors.
However, the tax authorities have taken "heavy-handed" measures to increase the tax supervision of practitioners in the online live broadcast industry, strictly investigate and deal with tax-related violations, maintain tax order, and promote the healthy development of the industry. This is positive for the influencer economy as a whole.
However, it is not enough to rely on the supervision of the tax department, and Internet celebrities also need to consciously abide by laws and regulations and establish the concept of honest management. At the same time, fans and consumers should also remain vigilant, not to be confused by the appearance of Internet celebrities, to look at the Internet celebrity economy rationally, support those Internet celebrities who abide by the law and act in good faith, and jointly create a fair, just and healthy online environment.
The emergence of tax evasion by Internet celebrities has aroused widespread concern in society. With the supervision of the tax department, the consciousness of the Internet celebrities themselves, and the joint efforts of the majority of fans and consumers, I believe that this problem can be effectively solved, so that the Internet celebrity economy can achieve healthy development on the track of the rule of law.
However, the frequent occurrence of tax evasion by Internet celebrities has also raised a series of questions. Why do these celebrities dare to evade taxes knowing that they are breaking the law? Are there any regulatory lapses in the tax authorities? Has the rapid development of the influencer economy led to a dilemma in tax administration? How can we effectively solve the problem of tax evasion and tax evasion by Internet celebrities, maintain tax order and promote the sustainable development of the industry?
These problems need to be dug deep and effective solutions to the regulation and tax management of the Internet celebrity economy are proposed. Only through multi-party cooperation and joint efforts can we establish a sound and standardized Internet celebrity economic ecosystem and make positive contributions to the stable development of society.