Tax authorities found 30.9 billion yen in tax evasion cases in fiscal 2001, the same level as in the early 1980s and a reflection of the sluggish economy, according to a National Tax Agency tally released Wednesday.
The figure rose by about 3.8 billion yen from fiscal 2000, when the sum dropped below 30 billion yen for the first time in 20 years.
As in previous years, various means of tax evasion were reported in the survey, including illegal accounting, misuse of overseas transactions, and changing assets into discount bonds or gold bullion and concealing them in homes or car trunks.