Japan Sees 3rd-Lowest Tax Evasion in FY 2017

June 15, 2018

Tokyo- The amount of tax evasion detected through compulsory investigations by Japanese tax authorities totaled 13.5 billion yen in fiscal 2017, marking the third-lowest level since data become available in 1972, the National Tax Agency said Thursday.

The figure, including penalty taxes, was down 2.6 billion yen from the previous year.

In the year that ended in March, the number of tax evasion cases found by regional taxation bureaus nationwide dropped by four to 174.

Of them, the authorities filed criminal complaints with public prosecutors in 113 cases, down 19, taking into account the extent of their maliciousness.

The average amount of tax evasion per case came to 89 million yen.

By industry, the construction sector saw the highest number of tax evasion cases, at 26, followed by the real estate sector, at 10.

The total annual amount of tax evasion has been on the decline after falling below 30 billion yen in fiscal 2009.

It has become difficult to analyze cases quickly because tax evasion methods became complex and tricky to detect on the back of fraudulent transactions using overseas companies and the digitization of transaction records.

In fiscal 2017, the number of tax evasion cases involving improper consumption tax refunds came to 12 and that of failures to declare earnings totaled 21, both hitting a five-year high.

All 143 cases in which indictments were issued for alleged tax evasion and that received rulings in courts of first trial in the year resulted in guilty decisions. Jiji Press