TAX NEWS - 2010

Shipping Tax: Mitsui O.S.K. suspected of failing to declare Y10.5 bil in income

TOKYO — Major Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd said Thursday it is expecting to receive an order from the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau to pay around 5.3 billion yen in back taxes due to its alleged failure to declare 10.5 billion yen in income from transactions with a U.S. subsidiary.
   
Mitsui said it plans to file an objection after it receives a formal order from the tax bureau. "We have paid tax appropriately based on the U.S. tax system, so we do not understand this," Mitsui Representative Director Kenichi Yonetani said at a press conference.

Tax authorities have informed Mitsui that they believe the shipping firm failed to properly report income from container cargo transactions with the U.S. subsidiary during the seven-business year period through March 2009.