With deflation undermining corporate profits, national tax revenues in February fell 5.9 percent from a year earlier, marking the 18th consecutive month of decline.
Revenues stood at 3.84 trillion yen, according to data released Tuesday by the Finance Ministry.
The decline was partly attributed to shrinking revenues from the tax on interest on maturing long-term postal savings, according to the ministry.
As a result, taxes collected from May 2002 through February stood at 31.5 trillion yen, down 11.5 percent from the previous year.
Tax revenues for fiscal 2002 as a whole are expected to stand at 44.28 trillion yen.
By category, income tax revenue, which accounts for 30 percent of the annual total, slipped 13 percent in February on a year-on-year basis to 684.53 billion yen.
Corporate tax revenue, about 20 percent of the annual total, dropped 5.5 percent to 745.12 billion yen.
Consumption tax revenue, also 20 percent of the annual total, fell 0.6 percent to 1.6 trillion yen. Inheritance tax revenue plunged 32.4 percent to 126.38 billion yen, the ministry said.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.