Tax collectors found 27.1 billion yen in undeclared taxes in fiscal 2000, down about 4.5 billion yen from the year before, due to the dismal economy, the National Tax Administration said in an annual white paper released Thursday.
In fiscal 2000, which ended March 31, 205 cases of tax evasion were uncovered, the same as the previous year, but the amounts per case were less. The administration filed criminal complaints in 146 cases, slightly lower than the 148 in 1999.
The 1999 tally was 31.61 billion yen, the lowest since the collapse of the asset-inflated bubble economy in the early 1990s. The 2000 figure is roughly equal to amounts around 1980, when the economy was flagging after an oil crisis, according to the report.