Tax evasion detected in fiscal 1999 was the lowest since the collapse of the bubble economy in the early 1990s, amounting to 31.61 billion yen, down 7.8 billion yen from the previous year, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Tax Administration.

The figure was well below the peak of 71.4 billion yen detected in fiscal 1988, during the bubble era, and almost equals the 31 billion yen of 1981.

In 205 cases of tax evasion uncovered during fiscal 1999, which ended in March, the amount evaded averaged 154 million yen per case, down 15 million yen from the previous year, according to the report based on investigations by regional taxation bureaus nationwide.