BY learning through her apology for tax evasion last week, we found out why Fan Bingbing had not been seen or heard of for several months. The government has rightly announced that it will not put up with tax evaders and they have been given the time to come clean by the end of the year. This was especially directed towards the film industry. If the government is sincere in the fight against tax evasion, it should also check all companies with subsidiaries in Hong Kong, as well as all Hong Kong companies that have mainland shareholders. It is an open secret that many mainland companies open a company in Hong Kong so they can execute a similar yin-yang contract to evade tax.

I have been told that many staff of State-owned companies receive low salaries but get a lot of shopping coupons and other benefits that are not subject to personal income tax. Taking in consideration that many people work for State-owned companies, we can imagine what kind of amount in taxes that are lost.

Fan Bingbing got the punishment she deserves but I also feel tax authorities should not only go after the high-profile targets but also tackle the less glorious.

If everyone paid their fair share in taxes and there were no tax evasion or avoidance, we all would pay a far less percentage of our income in tax.

Jeffry Kuperus via email