(Yicai Global) Dec. 22 -- Tax authorities in Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang and Guangdong are urging celebrity performers and live-streamers to report and correct their tax-related issues by the end of the year after top online sales host Viya was fined CNY1.34 billion (USD210 million) for tax evasion.

Tax bureaus will hand out smaller fines or even no penalties at all, if celebrities report and correct any tax-related issues before the end of 2021, they said in notices today. But the authorities also warned that they will seriously deal with those who refuse to self-assess or correct their tax returns. There are just 10 days left before the end of 2021.

Huang Wei, better known as Viya, China’s ‘live-streaming queen,’ was fined CNY1.34 billion for dodging tax payments of CNY643 million between 2019 and last year as well as other underpaid taxes to the tune of CNY60 million, the State Taxation Administration said on Dec. 20.

Through her shop on Chinese e-commerce platform Tabao, Viya sold a vast quantity and range of products, including a USD5.6 million rocket launch pad.

In August, Shanghai’s tax authorities also fined actress Zheng Shuang CNY299 million (USD47 million) for evading CNY45.3 million (USD7.1 million) in personal income taxes between 2019 and 2020.

Many stars, performers, and e-commerce anchors have taken the initiative to contact tax authorities for self-assessment and to pay overdue taxes since the start of the year, the STA said in a September notice. But others have been exposed and investigated for tax evasion.

Editor: Futura Costaglione