A Story in Yokohama -19【Okinawa】
A Story in Yokohama【 Subtitled "Longing"】-19
Fukada's inheritance tax case came to the attention of the National Tax Administration, NTA. The Criminal tax investigation division promptly conducted a reconnaissance inspection of the case, and was considering whether or not to proceed.
The NTA would normally decide on its own whether or not to proceed with an criminal tax investigation, but sometimes it would discuss the matter with the prosecutor beforehand in anticipation of a trial at a later date if difficulties were predicted in proving tax evasion.
Fukada was questioned by an old acquaintance of the prosecutor.
A young woman was present, introduced to him by the prosecutor.
“She is Ms. Hayashida, who was a great help to me during my tenure at the Fukuoka District Public Prosecutors Office.”
“My name is Yuki Hayashida. I'm on secondment from the Fukuoka Regional Taxation Bureau to the Tokyo Taxation Bureau's Investigation Division.”
“I'm Fukada.”
(Why is such a young investigator sitting with a veteran prosecutor?)
As if he had read Fukada's mind, the prosecutor explained.
“She, like you, is one of the few professionals in the field of investigation, and she helped me a lot when I was working for the Fukuoka District Public Prosecutors Office in terms of pursuing suspects and analyzing evidence. I asked her to sit in with me so that she could hear our conversation.”
“I don't know if you'd call me a professional, but I'd appreciate it.”
Fukada addressed them, and Hayashida bowed to him.
“But I didn't know you were in charge.”
“If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them, but I don't have any positive answers for you.”
“Why?”
“I'm an auditor at the tax office and my powers of examination are for tax purposes only.”
“I know that. You're not working on a criminal case, so it wouldn't be right for you to report voluntarily to me, the prosecutor.”
“That's right.”
“But this case has been examined by the NTA and they think there is a strong possibility of tax evasion, so I am involved. So I'm sure you won't mind if I ask you on my own authority.”
“I hope so.”
“You're as disciplined as ever. So, let me ask you, is the share transfer agreement false?”
“Based on the handwriting analysis and the time stamp on the computer, it is clear that the contract was forged retrospectively.”
“The creation of a contract is based on an agreement between the parties, which does not necessarily need to be in writing. What if htey claimed to have agreed to it before he died?”
“There is no direct evidence to exclude a claim of an oral contract.”
“How would you prove the case?”
“I would position the contract as strong circumstantial evidence. In the course of tax examinations, the tax accountants involved have denied that they have ever made retrospective statements for a long time. Therefore, it can be a pillar of proof, albeit a circumstantial one. Then, we can get statements from the heirs and others to support this.”
“What kind of people are the widow and her two daughters?”
“At the moment, the tax accountant wants me to examine the matter through him, and I have not been able to make sufficient enquiries. However, the widow has been a devout Christian since she was young and her two daughters were not involved in the inheritance process at all.”
“Can we expect a statement from the widow?”
“She has known the accountant since he was a boy, but she is not the sort of person who would lie if you asked her straight out. She may remain silent, but at least I don't think she would insist on a living transfer in an open manner.”
“From the way you've been talking, you've known the widow for some time, haven't you? Her surname is the same as yours, is it not?”
“I'd rather not answer that question.”
“You don't have to say it, but the widow may be a principal offender in tax evasion.”
“Well, that's just the way it has to be.”
“I understand. Then there's one more problem, if we can prove the criminal act.”
“What is it?”
“This is a case of how much to value shares in an unlisted company. In order to make a valuation that is appropriate for the value of the property, it is sometimes possible to take a flexible approach depending on the circumstances. In fact, the tax authorities allow for a number of different valuation methods. How can a case of property valuation, in which the valuation of the property differs greatly between the case of a shareholding of more than 30 per cent and the case of a shareholding of less than 30 per cent, fit into a criminal prosecution?”
“If you consider it and decide that it doesn't fit in with the tax evasion case, then it has to stop, but I think it does.”
“What is the basis for this?”
“The basic method of property valuation is based on net assets. It is, of course, difficult to determine the market value of each individual asset, so most assets are valued using book value as the market value. In this way, the valuation of net assets is usually more conservative than the actual market price unless it is a time of deflation, which is the case with Milan Travel Agency.
On the other hand, the dividend return method is a special rule established by the NTA to take care of those who are not involved in the management of the company and who are in a weaker position, and it results in a valuation that deviates completely from the actual market price.
As you know, tax evasion is the act of evading tax by cheating, and it is an undeniable fact that they made a false contract to evade inheritance tax by not calculating the tax by the net worth method, which they should have done, so I think it is enough to say that there was tax evasion.”
Commentary
Fukada is answering questions about the case from an old acquaintance of the prosecutor.
The prosecutor seems to appreciate the competence of both Fukada and the female investigator.
・・・To be continued・・・