Local Japanese authorities levied pro forma standard tax on around 20,000 companies in fiscal 2020, around a third less than the peak in fiscal 2006, government data showed Sunday.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, which compiled the data, believes that a significant number of firms may have reduced their capital to under ¥100 million ($691,000), a threshold for imposition of the tax, to evade it, officials said.
The ministry plans to devise countermeasures after assessing the situation, but lowering the threshold or expanding the tax to small- and medium-sized businesses are not expected to be included among the measures, according to the officials.