The nonpayment of corporate, income and other state taxes declined for the fifth straight year in fiscal 2003 to 2.03 trillion yen, down about 220 billion yen from the previous year, according to a National Tax Agency report released Wednesday.
"We have campaigned harder to tell people not to delay tax payments and also introduced a system to prod small-lot taxpayers through telephone calls. The system seems to be working," an agency official said.
The agency said nonpayment alone in fiscal 2003 dropped 7.1 percent from the previous year to 1.03 trillion yen, while the agency also forcibly collected about 1.25 trillion yen.