Society

Netflix's Japan unit fails to declare Y1.2 bil in taxable income

Mar 22 (Japan Today) - A Japanese unit of video streaming giant Netflix Inc failed to declare 1.2 billion yen ($10.1 million) in taxable income over three years through 2019, sources familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

The Tokyo Regional Tax Bureau found out about the underreporting following a probe on the Tokyo-based firm, with authorities saying the firm should have been paid more in terms of profit allocation by a Netherlands-based unit of Netflix, the sources said.

About 300 million yen in additional taxes, including the underreported amount, is expected to be levied on the Japanese unit, which is in charge of managing contracts with film production companies.

The Japanese company had bought the rights to stream content from multiple production companies. It then resold the rights to the Netherlands unit, which in turn made a disproportionately bigger profit out of such transactions, according to the sources.

The tax bureau determined that while the Japanese unit was paid for the outlays for acquiring such streaming rights, it did not receive the commensurate profit allocation. ...continue reading

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