In 2026, scandals at Japan's tax administration have come from two directions: misconduct by individual officials and failures of the organisation itself. On the staff side, a 25-year-old official took about ¥150 million from a wealthy taxpayer he was auditing and spent it on boat racing, and an inspector sent details of 259 taxpayers over LINE to a scam caller. On the organisational side, right after the national tax system was replaced on 24 September, other people's gift tax returns became viewable on e-Tax (79 returns), and the Board of Audit found ¥379.72 million left uncollected by tax offices. Here are the facts from official sources, four safeguards and the official complaints channel.
Staff misconduct: three reported cases
¥150 million from an audit subject, spent on boat racing
A 25-year-old male official received about ¥150 million from a wealthy woman he was auditing, telling her he was sending money to his family. He is also suspected of defrauding her of about ¥850,000 by claiming an error in an amended return. Dismissed for cause; referred to prosecutors on suspicion of fraud and violation of the Income Tax Act.
Undeclared side work
A woman in her twenties earned about ¥2.3 million from side work she had not declared and from money received via social media. Pay cut, then resignation. National public servants face restrictions on outside employment.
259 taxpayer records leaked
A male inspector in his thirties, taken in by a scam caller impersonating the prefectural police, sent corporate and individual names and filing amounts for 259 records over LINE. Suspended, then resigned. Taxpayers whose details leaked went on to receive scam calls.
The first two are individual wrongdoing. The third made 259 uninvolved taxpayers into victims, and it started with an official being scammed himself. In other words, your filing details can leak with no fault of your own. The rest of this article deals with that.
Organisational failures: system faults, under-collection and over-collection
Separately from individual wrongdoing, the organisation itself — the NTA, regional bureaus and tax offices — has also slipped. The list below covers only what the NTA and the Board of Audit published, or what a trade paper reported as an NTA announcement.
| When | What happened | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| 24–25 Sep 2026 | A fault in an e-Tax system change let users see other people's gift tax returns on their My Page | 79 returns (personal data of 203 people, including donors and tax accountants). 19 users may actually have viewed them |
| From 24 Sep 2026 | After the national tax system was replaced, counter procedures at tax offices (cash receipts, tax payment certificates, etc.) slowed down. Fee payment by internet banking was unavailable for about five days | Counter delays were still continuing at the 19 October update |
| 6–13 Oct 2026 | e-Tax's direct debit result screen showed "debit failed" even when the money had been taken from the account | A display error; payment was complete. Fixed on the 13th |
| Nov 2025 (Board of Audit) | 60 tax offices had failed to collect tax, for example by overlooking errors in returns | ¥379.72 million under-collected across 106 taxpayers and 113 items. One over-collection of ¥630,000 |
| Nov 2025 (Board of Audit) | For stock options, the NTA held data on people likely to have under-reported but did not follow up | Tax-qualified: 73 people (sale proceeds ¥1.31 billion). Non-qualified: 34 people (economic benefit ¥4.15 billion) |
| Jan 2023 | Gift tax deadlines extended because of COVID-19 were calculated using the original dates, so late-payment interest was over-charged | About ¥5.16 million from about 2,100 cases at 354 tax offices |
Unlike individual misconduct, organisational failures happen with no fault of your own, and the errors run both ways: under-collection and over-collection. All the under-collection the Board of Audit found was later assessed and collected. A return being accepted does not mean its contents were confirmed as correct.
The stock option case also raises a fairness question. Employees' salaries have tax withheld every month, leaving almost no room for gaps. Yet the NTA received the statutory reports on stock options and did not check the people most likely to have under-reported. After the Board of Audit raised it, the NTA reissued instructions on using the data to tax offices in August 2025.
The numbers: 37 staff disciplinary actions a year at the NTA
According to the National Personnel Authority, 249 regular national public servants were disciplined during 2025 (36 fewer than the year before). By ministry: Ministry of Justice 60, National Tax Agency 37, Japan Coast Guard 31, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism 26, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare 18.
The NTA ranks second, but larger organisations naturally produce more cases. The tax administration's authorised headcount is about 56,000, so 37 is roughly 0.07%. It is also six fewer than the previous year. This figure covers individual disciplinary actions only; organisational errors such as the system faults and under-collection above are not included.
0.07% shows that the overwhelming majority of officials do their job properly — but it is no guarantee that the one assigned to you is not the exception. Neither ignoring the risk because it is small nor condemning the whole tax administration over one news story gets you anywhere. What matters is knowing what to do if it happens.
Safeguard 1: There is no situation in which you hand cash to an auditor
How payment actually works
Tax is paid to the national treasury by payment slip, direct debit, direct payment, credit card, smartphone app or at a convenience store — through a financial institution, the tax office counter or e-Tax. A receipt or payment record always remains.
What never happens
An auditor taking cash directly, naming a personal bank account, or offering to "cover it for now". These are impossible under the system. If you are asked, do not comply — regardless of whether the person is a genuine official.
The person handing over money also carries risk. Giving money or goods in connection with a public servant's duties can constitute bribery under Article 198 of the Penal Code (up to three years' imprisonment or a fine of up to ¥2.5 million), and it will only count against you in the audit.
Officials conducting a tax audit are required to carry and present identification when exercising their questioning and inspection powers (Article 74-13 of the Act on General Rules for National Taxes). Asking is entirely proper. Note the office, name and contact number, and if in doubt call that tax office's main number to confirm the person works there.
Safeguard 2: Judge impersonation by the channel, not the story
The Osaka case began with an official himself falling for a scam call. If a professional can be fooled by the content, the reliable test is the channel.
| How you were contacted | Genuine? |
|---|---|
| An SMS containing a URL | Fake. The NTA does not send SMS messages containing URLs |
| SMS, email or LINE about "unpaid tax" or "seizure notice" | Fake. The NTA does not demand payment or notify seizure by these channels |
| A call asking for your bank account or PIN | Fake. So is being told to operate an ATM |
| A call about a refund telling you to go to an ATM | Fake. Receiving a refund never requires ATM operations |
| A letter arrives, or an official visits | Possibly genuine — but always call the office's main number back to confirm |
Supplying a fake callback number is standard practice for scammers. Look up the tax office number yourself on the NTA site. That single step defeats almost every pattern above.
Safeguard 3: Check the tax office's work too — errors go both ways
The defence against organisational error is to check the results you get from the tax office or e-Tax yourself.
- Confirm e-Tax screens against your bank statement: as the direct debit display error showed, the screen can be wrong. Check whether money actually left your account in your passbook or statement
- If a notice's amount looks wrong, quote the inquiry number: since 24 September, notices from tax offices carry a 13-digit inquiry number. Giving it on the phone identifies the notice immediately
- If you overpaid, file a request for correction: overpaid tax can be reclaimed by a request for correction within five years of the statutory filing deadline. If the error is the tax office's own calculation, such as over-charged late-payment interest, contact your tax office
- If you find your own error, amend before you are told: even if the tax office overlooks it, a later Board of Audit check or tax audit will mean paying the shortfall plus late-payment interest. An amended return filed before advance notice of an audit carries no penalty for under-reporting
The difference between an amended return and a request for correction is explained in our guide to amended returns and requests for correction, and direct debit dates in our guide to direct debit tax payment dates.
Safeguard 4: The Taxpayer Support Officer — anonymous and free
Few people know that the NTA has staff dedicated to receiving complaints from taxpayers. The Taxpayer Support Officer role was created in July 2001.
- What you can raise: complaints and concerns about the work of tax offices, regional bureaus and the NTA — an auditor's conduct, how a procedure is being run, whether the handling was appropriate
- How: by phone, in person, in writing or by email. Anonymous contact is accepted
- Where: at each regional taxation bureau (the Okinawa Regional Taxation Office) and some tax offices. If yours has none, matters may be escalated to the bureau or the NTA
- Cost: none
The Taxpayer Support Officer handles conduct and procedure. If you disagree with the assessment or determination itself, you need the formal rights-relief route — and that has deadlines.
| What you object to | Where it goes | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| An auditor's attitude, poor explanation, how the procedure was run | Taxpayer Support Officer (complaint) | None |
| The disposition itself (first stage) | Request for re-investigation to the district director, or request for review to the National Tax Tribunal | Within 3 months from the day after notice of the disposition |
| The re-investigation result (second stage) | Request for review to the National Tax Tribunal | Within 1 month from the day after notice of the decision |
| The tribunal's determination (third stage) | Litigation in court | Within 6 months from the day after notice of the determination |
Tax officials' confidentiality duty is twice as heavy as other public servants'
| Basis | Who it covers | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| National Public Service Act art. 100(1) (penalty: art. 109(xii)) | All national public servants | Up to 1 year's imprisonment or a fine up to ¥500,000 |
| Act on General Rules for National Taxes art. 127 | Those engaged, or formerly engaged, in tax investigation or collection | Up to 2 years' imprisonment or a fine up to ¥1,000,000 |
Note: the amended Penal Code effective 1 June 2025 merged "imprisonment with work" and "imprisonment without work" into a single custodial sentence, and statutory wording was updated accordingly.
The key phrase is "or formerly engaged": the duty survives resignation. Because the duty exists to protect taxpayers, an auditor conducting a cross-check with your business partners generally may not disclose your own filing details to them. If you learn that this happened, it is a matter for the Taxpayer Support Officer.
The irony: boat racing payouts are taxable for you too
The tax evasion in the Ryugasaki case was unreported boat racing winnings — reportedly some ¥334 million over three years from 2023 to 2025, evading about ¥135 million in income tax.
Payouts from public racing are in principle occasional income. The most common misunderstanding is what counts as a deductible cost: only the price of the winning tickets. Losing tickets are generally not deductible (barring exceptional cases treated as continuous profit-seeking activity). With large annual payouts, the tax can remain even when the money does not.
That an enforcement official was caught under the same rule is a reminder that the rule has no exceptions. If you have unreported income, filing voluntarily before being contacted keeps the additional tax lower.
Frequently asked questions
Q. Can I check whether my filing details have leaked?
A. There is no way for a taxpayer to check proactively; if a leak is confirmed, the authorities notify those affected. If you see concrete signs — an unknown business contacting you with knowledge of your revenue or filing amount — contact both the Taxpayer Support Officer and the police consultation line (#9110).
Q. How do I know whether I am one of the 79 people whose gift tax return was viewable on e-Tax?
A. Reports say regional bureau or tax office staff are contacting each person whose data may have been viewed, to explain and apologise. Scammers may imitate such calls, so if you receive one, call back your tax office's main number, which you have looked up yourself on the NTA site.
Summary
- Staff misconduct reported in 2026: about ¥150 million taken from an audited taxpayer, undeclared side work, and a leak of 259 taxpayer records.
- The organisation also failed: after September's system replacement, 79 people's gift tax returns were viewable by others on e-Tax, and the Board of Audit found ¥379.72 million left uncollected by tax offices.
- The NTA disciplined 37 staff in 2025, about 0.07% of roughly 56,000. Organisational errors are not counted in that figure.
- There is no situation where you hand cash to an auditor. Judge contacts claiming to be the tax office or police by the channel, not the story.
- Check the tax office's work too. Overpaid tax can be reclaimed within five years, and complaints can go to the Taxpayer Support Officer anonymously and free.
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Sources
Case details come from Jiji Press and Zei no Shirube reporting; the statistics, institutions and statutes were confirmed against public sources. Matters still under investigation or before the courts reflect the position as reported and are not established facts.
*This article is for general information and is not intended to condemn any particular individual. Criminal responsibility in the reported cases is presumed absent until established in court. For individual tax matters, consult a tax office or a licensed tax accountant.