Yoji Takahashi, head of the Unimat group, which operates major office coffee vendor Unimat Offisco Corp., was Japan's top individual taxpayer last year, according to a report listing the nation's top 100 taxpayers in 2001, released Thursday by the National Tax Agency.
Takahashi, a regular on the list, paid about 6.84 billion yen in income tax in 2001 after selling shares in consumer credit firm Unimat Life Corp. to a foreign firm. Takahashi ranked 13th the previous year.
In 2000, the largest group of top taxpayers, 49 of the 100, earned their income mainly through stock transactions, but that figure dropped to 27 in the latest list, the report said.
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