Cosmetics boss heads Japan's top taxpayers for 2003
A cosmetics company president headed the list of the nation's top 100 income taxpayers in 2003, ahead of pachinko parlor operators, moneylenders, and women's underwear retailers, in a year that saw fewer big earners, an annual tax report has shown.
In its annual report National Tax Administration Agency listed 73,959 people as having paid over 10 million yen in income tax in the year, the third year in a row the number has dropped.
Heading the list of the top income taxpayers was Hitori Sato, 55, a cosmetics retailer from Tokyo. Saito paid almost 1.15 billion yen in income tax, featuring at the top of the list for the first time in six years. The amount he paid was the second lowest since records began for the 1983 period.
Of the top 100 people the number of people who paid 500 million yen or more in income tax rose from 15 people the previous year to 30 people, but those who paid 1 billion yen or more dropped from four people to two.
A total of 12 pachinko parlor operators were included in the list, along with four moneylenders, highlighting their ability to withstand the stagnation in Japan's economy.
The list of top 100 income tax payers included 15 people from the health and beauty industry, including firms that sold women's underwear and health products.
Second after Saito was the president of DHC Corp., a health product retailer, who paid 1.01 billion yen, while the president of an oil transportation firm was third, paying 938.87 million yen in income tax.
Yuriko Higuchi the president of a firm selling women's underwear was fourth.
Den Fujita, the founder and former president of McDonalds Co. (Japan), who died recently was also on the list at No. 14, paying 723.98 million yen.
Japanese baseball star Hideki "Godzilla" Matsui, who featured at 95 on the previous year's list was not featured in the top 100 this year.
Three celebrities, including pop star Ayumi Hamasaki were on the last year's top 100 list, but for 2003, only Koshi Inaba, the singer for the rock duo B'z, was listed. (Compiled from Mainichi and wire reports, Japan, May 17, 2004)
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