The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau has seized some ¥1.8 billion in back taxes, including penalties, on a Hong Kong-based game company for failing to pay in Japan consumption tax associated with revenue from in-game spending, it was learned Tuesday.
Yotta Games was found to have failed to pay over the three years through December 2022 about ¥1.5 billion in consumption tax related to in-game item fees paid by Japanese users of its Mafia City online game.
The taxation bureau found the tax nonpayment after asking for information, such as a list of companies, from the tax authorities of Singapore based on the Japan-Singapore tax treaty and analyzing the collected data. The operator of the game distribution platform used by Yotta Games is located in Singapore.
The bureau is believed to have seized the receivables of Yotta Games' Japanese unit and collected the consumption tax as the Hong Kong firm was not cooperative with its investigation.
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