オリンパス子会社がいしゃの税務ぜいむ申告しんこくめぐり110ひゃくじゅう億おく円えん余あまり追徴ついちょう課税かぜい

It has been learned from interviews with those involved that Olympus, a precision equipment manufacturer, was hit with an additional tax assessment of over 11 billion yen by the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau over the tax filings of a subsidiary that was spun off as part of efforts to restructure its management.

The company that was subjected to additional taxation is Olympus, a precision equipment manufacturer listed on the TSE Prime Market.

Olympus, after the massive accounting fraud scandal that came to light in 2011, has focused its management resources on the medical field such as endoscopes, while selling off less profitable businesses to rebuild its operations.

Of these, a subsidiary called Evident was established for scientific businesses such as microscopes, which was spun off in 2022 and sold to an American investment fund the year before last.

According to sources, during that period, Olympus reportedly filed its taxes by offsetting the losses of its subsidiary Evident with the profits within the group, based on the group consolidated taxation system, which allows companies to combine profits and losses within group companies.

However, because Evidents filing was not based on the consolidated group taxation system, the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau determined that the system did not apply and pointed out that Olympus had underreported approximately 30 billion yen over the two years up to last March, imposing an additional tax of over 11 billion yen.

In response to NHKs inquiry, Olympus stated, While there were differences in opinion between our company and the tax authorities during ongoing discussions, after careful consideration, we have decided to comply with their instructions and pay the taxes.

We take your comments seriously and will strive to respond appropriately.

We will continue to file and pay taxes properly, they commented.

Additionally, Evident has stated, We would like to refrain from answering due to confidentiality obligations.

The group tax consolidation system is a scheme in which, for tax filings of group companies, the profits and losses of the parent company and its subsidiaries are combined for declaration and tax payment. This system has been in operation since April 2022.

The previous consolidated tax payment system also allowed the profits and losses of the entire group to be combined, but the parent company was required to file tax returns for all of its subsidiaries.

If any corrections or issues are found in a subsidiary’s tax filings, the parent company is required to recalculate for the entire group, which has been pointed out as placing a heavy burden on the parent company.

To address these disadvantages, the consolidated tax filing system was introduced, allowing subsidiaries to file their tax returns individually while enabling the group as a whole to combine profits and losses.

The background of the business sale: After the massive accounting fraud scandal that came to light in 2011, Olympus has been selling off less profitable businesses in order to rebuild its management.

Once well-known as a camera manufacturer, the company’s imaging business, including digital cameras, continued to operate at a loss due to the spread of smartphones, and was sold to an investment fund in 2021.

Furthermore, the scientific business, including microscopes, which had a history of over 100 years since the companys founding, was spun off in 2022 with the establishment of the subsidiary Evident, and in 2023, it was sold to an American investment fund.

On the other hand, the company has focused its management resources on the medical field, such as medical endoscopes, and in the most recent financial results, these account for most of the groups total sales.

They are improving their profits by focusing on medical endoscopes, which have a high market share worldwide.