Nissan has been ordered to pay ¥250 million ($2.4 million) in tax penalties in connection to Carlos Ghosn's tenure with the company.
Authorities have concluded that Nissan failed to declare around ¥1 billion in taxable income over five business years through March 2019.
www.japantimes.co.jp
Taxation authorities in Japan have concluded that Nissan failed to declare around ¥1 billion in taxable income over five business years through March 2019, with the company given around ¥250 million in tax penalties, sources said.
With regard to Ghosn’s alleged financial misconduct, the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau had already found last year that Nissan failed to declare about ¥150 million in taxable income over three business years through March 2014.
The taxation authorities proceeded to look into the accounting for a period beyond the three years, resulting in the latest finding.
In a report submitted to the Tokyo Stock Exchange in January, Nissan said that Ghosn inappropriately received about ¥140 million as stock-linked compensation. He also used a company business jet for private trips, costing a total of $4.4 million.
In an in-house report released last September, Nissan claimed that Ghosn made or attempted to make Nissan spend at least ¥15 billion illicitly in addition to his remuneration.
According to the sources, taxation authorities are apparently refusing to let Nissan include some of those expenses — such as those incurred by the company’s headquarters — as necessary business costs for tax deduction.
Ghosn, a former chairman of Nissan, was arrested in November 2018 by prosecutors in Japan for alleged financial misconduct. After being released from a detention facility in Tokyo, he jumped bail and fled to Lebanon in late 2019.
Ghosn has denied the allegations.