Chinese Tycoon's Son Complains After Paying $680,000 Tax on New Car

By Jesse Pottinger, April 15, 2019

Living in Vancouver, you’re likely to see no shortage of wealth being flaunted around. The city has gained a reputation for exorbitantly wealthy folks, especially from China, buying up real estate and luxury cars in their own real-life version of Monopoly. But one thing you shouldn’t complain about if you’re in this group: paying taxes on luxury cars.

South China Morning Post reports that Ding Chen, son of duck farmer turned business tycoon Chen Mailin, posted a photo on Instagram last Thursday of a receipt for his USD3.8 million custom Bugatti Chiron with a text overlay reading, “These taxes … my heart feels tired.”

The younger Chen allegedly completed the purchase with his father’s UnionPay credit card (more on that below).

Much of the receipt was blacked out, but based on the Canadian federal goods and service tax of 5 percent, SCMP estimates the car cost USD3.1 million before taxes. Including provincial taxes, the cost totaled about USD3.8 million.

An additional UnionPay fee of 1.7 percent, if applied before taxes, would cost over USD53,000.

taxes
Image via South China Morning Post

The photo reveals that the bill was made out to Chen’s father, who also owns the Drummond Drive home listed on the receipt, which sold in 2015 for USD40 million – thought to be Canada’s largest-ever transaction for a residential home at the time.

According to South China Morning Post, a Vancouver-based assistant at Chunghwa Investment confirmed that he is the son of 49-year-old Chen Mailin, who hails from Jiangsu province.

The poster child for conspicuous consumption, Chen’s now-inaccessible Instagram account flaunted designer clothing, an Audemars Piguet watch (starting price USD15,000), a Bombardier Challenger jet with the name Ding emblazoned on the side (USD30 million) and several updates regarding the state of his soon-to-be-completed supercar (the vehicle is currently being ‘tricked out’).

Being an ultra-rich heir to unimaginable wealth with no accountability for the money you spend doesn’t automatically make you a dick. But come on Ding, you’re certainly not helping the image of the world’s elite.

[Cover image via Pixabay]