There has been a shocking report.
It has emerged that, last November, a tax accountant corporation in Saitama Prefecture that had been accused by the national tax authorities of concealing income dissolved while it was under investigation for disciplinary action under the Certified Public Tax Accountant Act, and established a different corporation with the same name and almost the same staff. ~ omitted ~
The corporation accused of concealing income was Musashi Management, a tax accountant corporation in Kumagaya City, Saitama Prefecture, and its affiliated company. Both were represented by a male tax accountant who was formerly an employee of the regional taxation bureau.
As a result of a tax audit by the Kanto-Shinetsu Regional Taxation Bureau, the two corporations were accused of concealing a combined approximately ¥45 million in corporate income over the six years through the fiscal year ended June 2013. According to people concerned, the two corporations had recorded fictitious expenses under such names as business outsourcing fees and personnel costs, and the bureau imposed additional corporate tax totaling approximately ¥15 million, including heavy additional tax. ~ remainder omitted (Yomiuri, May 30, 2016)
It is unusual in itself for a tax accountant corporation to be subjected to a tax audit, but in this audit the tax accountant corporation itself had, unbelievably, recorded fictitious expenses. No gray area here—100% beyond the line. Given its own condition, it is easy to imagine what kind of guidance it had been giving clients. Further, dissolving the tax accountant corporation while the regional taxation bureau was considering disciplinary action, then creating a tax accountant corporation with the same name in the same location where its branch office had been, is an act of maliciously exploiting a legal loophole. It gives the impression of a determination to stop at nothing.
For licensed professions, professional ethics are of utmost importance in protecting the trust of the industry as a whole.
Because this person was registered as a tax accountant without an examination as a former regional taxation bureau employee, it is unclear to what extent he had opportunities to learn professional ethics as a tax accountant. But that someone who, as a national civil servant, was “supposed” to have worked with high ethical standards would cause an incident like this... Each of us tax accountants must keep our own conduct beyond reproach so that we do not undermine public trust in the entire profession.
(Bonus) Musashi Management office introduction
The introduction says wonderful things. But if the reality is as reported, I cannot take those words at face value; I find myself narrowing my eyes.
(Bonus) Musashi Management management philosophy
The part that says, “We strive to provide careful, reassuring financial support and appropriate tax returns,” leaves me feeling uneasy.
(Bonus) Career history of the representative of the now-closed Musashi Management tax accountant corporation that was supposed to receive disciplinary action
[Contents of the image material, excluding the name and year of birth] Career history as office head of the representative partner tax accountant (a man in his sixties born in Kumagaya City, Saitama Prefecture)
- 1978: Graduated from the Faculty of Law, Chuo University
- 1982: National Tax Specialist, Kanto-Shinetsu Regional Taxation Bureau
- 1993: Registered as a tax accountant / established the Jitsugyo Rizai Kenkyujo and became its representative director
- 1998: Head of the [individual name withheld] accounting office
- 2003: Established Musashi Management Tax Accountant Corporation; representative partner tax accountant
- 2004: Established Musashi M&A Center Co., Ltd.
What a surprise: his former place of employment was the Kanto-Shinetsu Regional Taxation Bureau. This time, the Kanto-Shinetsu Regional Taxation Bureau conducted a tax audit and uncovered fictitious expenses. It was as though he had been caught by juniors from his old workplace.
The fabled protective halo around tax accountants who once worked for a regional taxation bureau seems not to have helped him. The Kanto-Shinetsu Regional Taxation Bureau did its job properly.
Musashi Management’s corporate registry
Musashi Management Tax Accountant Corporation, closed before disciplinary action
Address: 2-7-31 Nakanishi, Kumagaya City, Saitama Prefecture
Secondary office: 2-24-2 Nakacho, Omiya Ward, Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture
Date of dissolution: November 30, 2015
Representative (the equivalent of a president in an ordinary company): male tax accountant formerly employed by the regional taxation bureau (representative of the former corporation)
Partners (the equivalent of directors in an ordinary company): four tax accountants (one later became the representative of the new corporation, and another continued as a partner of the new corporation)
[Contents of registry material, excluding officers’ names and personal addresses] Obtained on May 31, 2016. Corporate registry number 0300-05-013480. The name is Musashi Management Tax Accountant Corporation; the principal office is 2-7-31 Nakanishi, Kumagaya City, Saitama Prefecture; and the corporation was formed on July 1, 2003. Its purposes include tax representation, preparation of tax documents, and tax consultation; preparation of financial documents and bookkeeping services incidental to those services; and work as an assistant in tax litigation. A male tax accountant formerly employed by the regional taxation bureau served as representative partner. Of the four partner tax accountants, one later became the representative of the new corporation and another continued as a partner of the new corporation.
The newly created Musashi Management
Address: 2-24-2 Nakacho, Omiya Ward, Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture
Secondary office: 2-7-31 Nakanishi, Kumagaya City, Saitama Prefecture
Representative (the equivalent of a president in an ordinary company): the tax accountant among the four partners of the former corporation who became the representative of the new corporation
Partners (the equivalent of directors in an ordinary company): another tax accountant among the four partners of the former corporation who continued as a partner of the new corporation
[Contents of registry material, excluding officers’ names and personal addresses] Corporate registry number 0300-05-017653. The name is Musashi Management Tax Accountant Corporation; the principal office is 2-24-2 Nakacho, Omiya Ward, Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture; and the corporation was formed on October 15, 2015. Its purposes are the same as the former corporation’s: tax representation, preparation of tax documents, tax consultation, incidental preparation of financial documents and bookkeeping services, and work as an assistant in tax litigation. One of the four partners of the former corporation became the representative partner of the new corporation, and another also continued as a partner.
The corporate name is the same. The locations are the same. Some of the officers are from the former corporation. If the employees are also almost the same, the substance is probably the same company.