(Yicai Global) Dec. 30 -- As the year’s end approaches, Chinese tax authorities have stepped up scrutiny, fining leading live e-commerce influencers. The harm their public image has sustained as a result may usher in more opportunities for less-influential hosts, their agents, brands and businesses, according to analysts.

Tax breaches will damage the public image of top livestreamers, which may be fatal as the profession is based on consumer trust, said Mo Daiqing, senior analyst and head of the online retail division of 100EC's e-commerce research center.

That could bring more opportunities for less-influential hosts and their agents, commonly known as multi-channel networks, brands and merchants, Mo told Yicai Global.

Those brand merchants that have relied excessively on the top anchors of livestream e-commerce shows to promote their products may have to rebuild their sales channels as well as their product system, according to Chen Dengfeng, vice president of nighttime goods supplier Silibo Sleep Technology.

And due to the limited number of e-commerce livestreams available, the vendors may have to put more resources into improving their operational capabilities, Chen noted. “Silibo will hire both leading e-commerce livestreamers and less-famous ones to promote products.”

Leading Chinese home appliance brands will market their goods online more themselves, a marketing executive at a small kitchen appliances firm predicted.

Merchants with scarce goods will be increasingly in the driver’s seat, a clothing industry professional told Yicai Global. The scarcer the item, the more the livestreamers want to work with its owner. Once platforms understand that, web traffic will increasingly tilt toward the goods end, he said.

Viya, China’s ‘live-streaming queen,’ was fined a record CNY1.34 billion (USD210 million) for tax evasion, between 2019 to 2020, the State Taxation Administration said on Dec. 20. Meanshile, tax authorities in Beijing, Shanghai, and elsewhere have given celebrities and influencers until tomorrow to pay any outstanding taxes and submit corrected tax filings, or face the consequences.

Cheng Liang, a counsel working for SG & Co. Lawyers, told Yicai Global that the tax evasion penalties for livestreamers and popular film and television stars are of great significance for strengthening oversight of the live broadcasting sector, while regulating its development. At the same time, it is also conducive to the long-term standardized and healthy development of the platform economy, he said.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Peter Thomas