Section 2 Financial and Economic Offenses

1 Tax related offenses

(1) Disposition in public prosecutors offices

Fig. 1-3-2-1 shows the number of persons newly received by public prosecutors for violations of the Income Tax Act (Act No. 33 of 1965), the Corporation Tax Act (Act No. 34 of 1965), the Inheritance Tax Act (Act No. 73 of 1950), the Consumption Tax Act (Act No. 108 of 1988), and the Local Tax Act (Act No. 226 of 1950) over the last 20 years. The number of persons received in 2010 was highest for Corporation Tax Act violations at 223 (down 57 from the previous year), followed by Income Tax Act violations at 76 (up 33 (id.)), Consumption Tax Act violations at 45 (down nine (id.)), Local Tax Act violations at 38 (up 12 (id.)), and Inheritance Tax Act violations at 20 (up 14 (id.)).

Fig. 1-3-2-1 Number of persons newly received by public prosecutors for violations of tax related acts (1991-2010)

Fig. 1-3-2-1

Table 1-3-2-2 shows the number of cases involving violations of tax related acts accused by the National Tax Agency and the amount of tax evaded per case over the last five years.

In FY 2010 the number of cases involving tax evasion amounts of 300 million yen or more was 15, of which six were for amounts of 500 million yen or more (Source: The National Tax Agency).

Table 1-3-2-2 Number of accused cases for violations of tax related acts and amount of tax evasion per case (FY 2006-FY 2010)

Table 1-3-2-2

Table 1-3-2-3 shows the number of persons prosecuted or not prosecuted for violations of tax related acts over the last five years.

Examining the details of prosecutions in 2010 revealed that all cases were indicted (Source: Annual Report of Statistics on Prosecution).

Table 1-3-2-3 Number of persons prosecuted or not prosecuted for violations of tax related acts (2006-2010)

Table 1-3-2-3

(2) Disposition in a court of first instance

The number of persons conclusively disposed in a court of first instance (excluding transfer, etc.) for violations of tax related acts in 2010 was 37 (35 of whom were sentenced to imprisonment with work for a definite term and two to fine) for Income Tax Act violations, 197 (99 of whom were sentenced to imprisonment with work for a definite term and 98 to fine) for Corporation Tax Act violations, nine (all of whom were sentenced to imprisonment with work for a definite term) for Inheritance Tax Act violations, 28 (19 of whom were sentenced to imprisonment with work for a definite term and nine to fine) for Consumption Tax Act violations, and six (all of whom were sentenced to imprisonment with work for a definite term) for Local Tax Act violations (the number involving fine excludes those imposed both fine and imprisonment with work) (Source: Annual Report of Judicial Statistics and the General Secretariat, Supreme Court).