Chinese starlet's fines reasonable, experts say
Legal professionals agree that the punishment given to actress Fan Bingbing for tax evasion is reasonable and justified, and can also serve as a warning to the public.
"The tax payment, overdue surcharge and fine for Fan are an administrative punishment that was made in line with our country's tax collection regulation and the revised Criminal Law," said Chen Canping, president of the law school at Tianjin University of Finance and Economics.
He made the remark on Monday, four days after Fan and companies she represents were ordered to pay taxes and penalties totaling about 884 million yuan ($128 million) after it was found she had evaded taxes of more than 140 million yuan.
As this was Fan's first such offense, the State Taxation Administration and the tax authority of Jiangsu province decided that she would not be criminally prosecuted if she paid the taxes and fines within a defined time frame.
"This criminal exemption is not an act of extrajudicial mercy. It has legal support," Chen said.
Under the 2009 amendment to the law, tax evaders who receive administrative punishment, including being ordered to pay the required taxes, an overdue surcharge and a fine within the period defined by tax authorities, will be exempted from criminal charges.
But the immunity will be revoked if they incur a penalty from tax authorities twice or more within five years.
"It means there is an administrative pre-procedure for tax evasion offenders in the law, and it is also a second chance for those found evading taxes for the first time," said Liu Jianwen, a law professor specializing in taxes at Peking University.
The experts noted Fan's punishment is also related to the nation's attempts to reduce extreme penalties, especially the death penalty, for economic and nonviolent crimes.
For example, capital punishment for crimes involving fraud and counterfeiting was phased out over the past five years, "which is welcomed among many legal professionals and also a trend at home and abroad", Chen said.
Chen Youxi, a lawyer at Capital Equity Legal Group in Zhejiang province, commented on Fan's punishment on his micro blog. He said tax evasion as a crime is different from theft or smuggling, because the wrongdoers only avoid honoring their civic duty of paying taxes and don't directly harm others.
"Such a huge tax evasion and the fines levied must be an alert for the public to improve awareness and fulfill obligations to pay their taxes," said Liu Chang, a lawyer at Beijing Zhongwen Law Firm.
Soon after being given the punishment on Wednesday, Fan made a public apology for her wrongdoings via her micro blog, adding she will try her best to raise money to pay her taxes and fines.
