Local Tax Act

A disposition concerning the cargo levy for which the director-general of a customs house carries out assessment and collection together with consumption tax, in accordance with the rules for the assessment and collection of consumption tax, under Article 72-100, paragraph (1) is deemed, with respect to appeals and litigation, to be a disposition under a law concerning national taxes, and Chapter VIII of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes applies. In this case, in Article 105, paragraph (2) of that Act, the phrase "national tax connected with the disposition" is deemed to be replaced with "national tax or the cargo levy of the local consumption tax connected with the disposition"; in paragraph (3) of that Article, "national tax connected with the disposition" with "national tax or the cargo levy of the local consumption tax connected with the disposition"; in paragraph (4) of that Article, "national tax connected with the disposition" with "national tax or the cargo levy of the local consumption tax connected with the disposition" and "that national tax" with "that national tax or the cargo levy of the local consumption tax"; in paragraph (5) of that Article, "national tax connected with the disposition" with "national tax or the cargo levy of the local consumption tax connected with the disposition"; and in paragraph (6) of that Article, "national tax connected with the disposition" with "national tax or the cargo levy of the local consumption tax connected with the disposition".

If an appeal has been filed against a reassessment or determination, etc. prescribed in Article 58, paragraph (1), item (i), (a) of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes (hereinafter in this paragraph referred to as a "reassessment or determination, etc.") relating to a cargo levy or consumption tax regarding a disposition deemed under the preceding paragraph to be a disposition made under laws relating to national taxes, and a reassessment or determination, etc. has been made regarding another consumption tax or cargo levy for which the person liable for tax is the same as for that cargo levy or consumption tax, then for the purpose of applying the provisions of Article 90, paragraph (1) or (2), Article 104, paragraph (2), or Article 115, paragraph (1), item (ii) of that Act, the reassessment or determination, etc. made regarding that other consumption tax or cargo levy is deemed to be another reassessment or determination, etc. made regarding the tax base, etc. or tax amount, etc. prescribed in Article 19, paragraph (1) of that Act for that cargo levy or consumption tax.

If a person has evaded or attempted to evade all or part of the cargo levy by deception or other wrongful acts, the person who committed the violation is to be punished by imprisonment for not more than 10 years or a fine of not more than 10,000,000 yen, or both.

If ten times the tax amount evaded or attempted to be evaded under the preceding paragraph exceeds 10,000,000 yen, the amount of the fine under that paragraph may, in light of the circumstances and notwithstanding the provisions of that paragraph, be an amount exceeding 10,000,000 yen and not more than the amount equivalent to ten times the tax amount evaded or attempted to be evaded.

If the representative of a corporation, or an agent, employee or other worker of a corporation or individual, has committed a violation referred to in paragraph (1) in connection with the business or property of that corporation or individual, in addition to punishing the offender, the fine prescribed in that paragraph is to be imposed on that corporation or individual.

In the case where a fine is imposed on a corporation or individual for a violation referred to in paragraph (1) under the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the period of prescription is the same as that for the offense referred to in paragraph (1).

If the provisions of paragraph (3) apply to an association or foundation without juridical personality, its representative or administrator represents that association or foundation without juridical personality in its procedural acts, and the provisions of laws on criminal proceedings applicable where a corporation is the defendant or suspect apply mutatis mutandis.

If a person has received a refund under Article 72-104, paragraph (1) by deception or other wrongful acts, the person who committed the violation is to be punished by imprisonment for not more than 10 years or a fine of not more than 1,000,000 yen, or both.

If three times the amount of the refund received under the preceding paragraph exceeds 1,000,000 yen, the amount of the fine under that paragraph may, in light of the circumstances and notwithstanding the provisions of that paragraph, be an amount exceeding 1,000,000 yen and not more than three times the relevant amount.

If the representative of a corporation, or an agent, employee or other worker of a corporation or individual, has committed a violation referred to in paragraph (1) in connection with the business or property of that corporation or individual, in addition to punishing the offender, the fine prescribed in that paragraph is to be imposed on that corporation or individual.

In the case where a fine is imposed on a corporation or individual for a violation referred to in paragraph (1) under the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the period of prescription is the same as that for the offense referred to in paragraph (1).

With respect to a criminal tax case concerning the cargo levy, notwithstanding the provisions of Section 16 of the preceding Chapter (including the penal provisions pertaining to those provisions), the provisions of Chapter XI of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes (excluding Article 153 and Article 154, paragraph (1)) (including the penal provisions pertaining to those provisions) apply by deeming a director-general of a customs house or customs official to be a regional commissioner or district director, or a relevant official of the National Tax Agency, a Regional Taxation Bureau or a tax office.

The provisions of Article 153, paragraph (5) of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes apply mutatis mutandis where a relevant official of the National Tax Agency, a Regional Taxation Bureau or a tax office and a customs official have discovered the criminal tax case referred to in the preceding paragraph. In this case, in paragraph (5) of that Article, the phrase "the relevant officials of the tax office" is deemed to be replaced with "the relevant officials of the tax office (or, if a customs official first discovered the case, the customs officials of the customs house having jurisdiction over the place of discovery, the place of import of the object of the offense, or the place for tax payment)", and the phrase "the relevant officials of the Regional Taxation Bureau" is deemed to be replaced with "the relevant officials of the Regional Taxation Bureau (or, if a customs official first discovered the case, the customs officials of the customs house having jurisdiction over the place of discovery, the place of import of the object of the offense, or the place for tax payment)".

In the case referred to in paragraph (1), a criminal tax case concerning the cargo levy imposed with the amount of consumption tax on the tax base set forth in Article 47, paragraph (1), item (ii) of the Consumption Tax Act as its tax base is to be a criminal tax case concerning a national tax other than an indirect national tax, and a criminal tax case concerning the cargo levy imposed with the amount of consumption tax to be collected under Article 50, paragraph (2) of that Act (not including the amount of delinquent tax relating to consumption tax) as its tax base is to be a criminal tax case concerning an indirect national tax.

A director-general of a customs house is to report to the prefectural governor, as provided by Cabinet Order, the number of cargo levy filings, the cargo levy amount, the status of delinquency in the cargo levy, and other necessary matters.

The prefectural governor may request the director-general of a customs house, specifying the matters the governor finds necessary, to allow the governor to inspect or record the documents relating to matters concerning the assessment and collection or filing and payment of the cargo levy under that director-general's charge. In this case, if the director-general of a customs house finds the request to be well-founded, the director-general is to allow the prefectural governor or an official designated by the governor to inspect or record the relevant documents.

If necessary for carrying out the assessment and collection of the cargo levy, a director-general of a customs house may request the prefectural governor and the mayor of the municipality to provide materials or information that would serve as a reference for that work, or to give other cooperation.

A prefecture must pay the collection handling fee to the national government, as provided by Cabinet Order, in order to compensate the costs required for the national government to perform the work relating to the assessment and collection of the cargo levy.

The national government must notify the prefectural governor, as provided by Cabinet Order, of the matters necessary for calculating the collection handling fee under the preceding paragraph.

If the prefectural governor has received the notification under the preceding paragraph, the governor is to pay the collection handling fee under paragraph (1) within 30 days from the date of that notification.

A prefecture is to prorate, as provided by Cabinet Order, the amount obtained by deducting the amount equivalent to the sum paid to the national government under paragraph (1) of the preceding Article from the amount equivalent to 10/22 of the total of the amount equivalent to the transfer levy amount paid to that prefecture and the amount of the cargo levy payments remitted under Article 72-103, paragraph (3), in accordance with the amount equivalent to consumption in each prefecture, and pay, to each of the other prefectures, the portion of the prorated amount relating to that other prefecture.

A prefecture is to prorate, as provided by Cabinet Order, the amount equivalent to 12/22 of the total amount prescribed in the preceding paragraph in accordance with the amount equivalent to consumption in each prefecture, and pay, to each of the other prefectures, the portion of the prorated amount relating to that other prefecture.

The sums to be paid to other prefectures under the preceding two paragraphs and the sums to be received from other prefectures under those provisions are to be offset against each other among the relevant prefectures.

The amount equivalent to consumption in each prefecture referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) means, for each prefecture, the amount obtained by totaling the annual retail sales of that prefecture (meaning the amount specified by Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications on the basis of the most recently published results of the economic structure statistics (limited to those specified by Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications), which are fundamental statistics prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (4) of the Statistics Act) and the amount equivalent to consumption in that prefecture other than consumption equivalent to that annual retail sales (meaning the amount calculated, as provided by Cabinet Order, on the basis of indicators related to consumption specified by Cabinet Order).

In addition to what is provided for in the preceding paragraphs, the procedures for implementing these provisions and other matters necessary for their enforcement are specified by Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

A prefecture is to distribute one half of the total amount obtained by adding, to the amount obtained by deducting the amount equivalent to the sum paid to the national government under Article 72-113, paragraph (1) from the amount equivalent to 10/22 of the total amount prescribed in paragraph (1) of the preceding Article, the amount equivalent to the sum received from other prefectures under paragraph (1) of that Article, and deducting the amount equivalent to the sum paid to other prefectures under that paragraph, to the municipalities within that prefecture (including special wards; the same applies in this Article and the following Article), as provided by Cabinet Order, prorated in accordance with the population of each municipality according to the results of the most recent national census publicly announced in the Official Gazette and the number of workers in each municipality according to the most recently published results of the economic structure statistics (limited to those specified by Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications), which are fundamental statistics prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (4) of the Statistics Act.

A prefecture is to distribute one half of the total amount obtained by adding, to the amount equivalent to 12/22 of the total amount prescribed in paragraph (1) of the preceding Article, the amount equivalent to the sum received from other prefectures under paragraph (2) of that Article, and deducting the amount equivalent to the sum paid to other prefectures under that paragraph, to the municipalities within that prefecture, as provided by Cabinet Order, prorated in accordance with the population referred to in the preceding paragraph.

In the case referred to in paragraph (1), one half of the amount to be distributed to the municipalities is to be prorated in accordance with the population referred to in that paragraph, and the other half in accordance with the number of workers referred to in that paragraph.

A prefecture is to allocate an amount equivalent to the amount obtained by deducting from the total amount prescribed in paragraph (2) of the preceding Article the amount distributed under that paragraph to the municipalities within that prefecture to expenditures prescribed in Article 1, paragraph (2) of the Consumption Tax Act and other expenditures required for social security measures (meaning measures concerning social welfare, social insurance and public health; the same applies in the following paragraph).

A municipality is to allocate an amount equivalent to the amount distributed to it by a prefecture under paragraph (2) of the preceding Article to expenditures prescribed in Article 1, paragraph (2) of the Consumption Tax Act and other expenditures required for social security measures.

In addition to what is provided for in Articles 72-78 through the preceding Article, procedures for implementing the provisions of this Section and other matters necessary for their enforcement are specified by Cabinet Order.