China exposes seven tax evasion cases involving influencers, online retailers

(ECNS) -- China's State Taxation Administration (STA) on Friday disclosed seven tax evasion cases involving internet influencers and online retailers, with penalties ranging from more than 1.8 million yuan (about $251,000) to more than 9.7 million yuan (about $1.35 million).

The STA said it had recovered overdue taxes, imposed late-payment surcharges and levied fines on the offenders, who tactics to conceal income and shirk tax liabilities.

According to the tax authority, some influencers established shell companies to improperly classify income from livestreaming services as business income for tax reporting purposes. In other cases, online retailers directed customers away from public e-commerce platforms to complete transactions through private channels, transferred sales proceeds to the personal bank accounts of business controllers and filed false tax returns.

Authorities also discovered that certain shops had never registered for tax identification since opening, refused to submit any tax filings, and even attempted to dissolve their business registrations to escape obligations.

China's online retail sales reached 15.97 trillion yuan in 2025, up 8.6% from a year earlier, according to official data. The live-streaming e-commerce segment maintained strong momentum, with transaction value growing 11.3% from the previous year.

(By Zhang Dongfang)