Administrative structure of National Tax Agency

On June 1, 1949, NTA was established as Finance Ministry’s affiliated agency responsible for assessing and collecting national taxes (except for customs duty, tonnage due and special tonnage due). Until then, this role was performed by Tax Bureau of Finance Ministry. Immediately after the Second World War, tax administration did not function properly as Tax Bureau had undertaken excessive operations. This organizational reform established NTA’s current three-tiered organizational structure consisting of the head office, regional taxation bureaus and tax offices.

Tax Bureau of Finance Ministry is responsible for research and policy planning on domestic tax system. Customs and Tariff Bureau and Customhouses are responsible for researching, planning and collecting customs duty, tonnage due and special tonnage due.

NTA consists of the head office, 11 regional taxation bureaus (Sapporo, Sendai, Kanto-Shin-Etsu, Tokyo, Kanazawa, Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima, Takamatsu, Fukuoka and Kumamoto), Okinawa Regional Taxation Office and 524 tax offices throughout the country (see table).

NTA’s head office has four departments: Commissioner's Secretariat; Taxation Department; Revenue Management and Collection Department; and Examination and Criminal Investigation Department. The head office plans overall tax administrative policies, provides uniform interpretation on tax law, gives necessary instructions to regional taxation bureaus and supervises tax administrative operations carried out by regional taxation bureaus and tax offices. As the core government body in charge of tax administrative affairs, NTA keeps close contacts with other ministries, agencies and related organizations.

Regional taxation bureau has similar organizational structure to the head office and supervises tax offices under their jurisdiction in accordance with instructions from the head office. Regional taxation bureaus are also directly involved in certain tax assessment and collection affairs. For instance, Examination and Criminal Investigation Department at regional taxation bureau level examines large-scale corporation’s corporate and consumption taxes and investigates tax evasion cases. Taxation Department at regional taxation bureau level examines and investigates liquor tax and gasoline tax payable by large companies, while Revenue Management and Collection Department collects overdue taxes from large-scale tax defaulters.

Okinawa Regional Taxation Office was established on May 15, 1972 when US returned Okinawa back to Japanese administration. The office plays similar roles to regional taxation bureaus, but its organization scale is smaller. It has no «department».

Tax office is a front-line administrative body in charge of assessing and collecting domestic taxes and has the closest contacts with taxpayers. Tax office is authorized to assess and collect domestic taxes within its responsible area. Its organization structure varies, depending on tax office’s scale. Generally, a tax office has 1 division and 4 groups: co-ordination division, revenue management and collection group, examination group (individual), examination group (property tax), and examination group (corporation).

1. Co-ordination division is in charge of overall coordination and general affairs as well as accounting tasks in the tax office.

2. Revenue management and collection group manages domestic tax credits and collects unpaid taxes.

3. Examination group (individual) handles personal income tax and unincorporated enterprise’s consumption tax and also collects documentary materials related to domestic taxes.

4. Examination group (property tax) handles inheritance tax and gift tax.

5. Examination group (corporation) is responsible for corporate tax, corporate consumption tax, withholding income tax and other indirect taxes.

Some small-scale tax offices consist of 1 division and 1 group, namely co-ordination division and examination group. Each division or group has a few staff members led by chief examiner (chief revenue officer). Large-scale tax offices have special officer (public relations) who specially handles public relations activities concerning domestic taxes, and a chief examiner (liquor tax and industry) in charge of liquor tax and administrative tasks related with the liquor industry. Some tax offices have even larger scale and have deputy district director (assisting the district director), special examiners (in charge of investigating large-scaled taxpayers) and special revenue officers who are responsible for compulsory collections in major default cases.

NTA also has other affiliated organizations, including National Tax College, which provides training programs for tax officials and National Tax Tribunal that reviews taxpayer’s requests for reconsideration on tax controversies. National Tax College and National Tax Tribunals have their local training centers or branch offices in the cities where regional taxation bureaus and Okinawa Regional Taxation Office are located.

In connection with the central government reorganization, NTA’s organization has also seen structural reforms since January 2001, such as newly setting up Taxation Management Division, renaming Public Relations Division as Director’s office (Public Relations), and establishing new National Tax Council by integrating former National Tax Council, Tax Accountant Council and Central Council on Alcoholic Beverages (CCAB). In April 2001, NTA reorganized its affiliated facility, National Research Institute of Brewing, as independent administrative entity.

Immediately after the WWII, when galloping inflation and public unfamiliarity with the new tax system led to great confusion and a near crisis in tax administration, the number of NTA personnel rose to nearly 62,000. After personnel reductions, the number of personnel was reduced to 50,300 in 1954. From 1972 to 1986, the number remained around 52,000, reflecting the severity of circumstances in government administration and finances. However, with the introduction of consumption tax in 1989 and land value tax in 1991, NTA expanded its organization. The number exceeded 56,000 in 1992 and stands at 56,315 as of the end of FY2003. The distribution of NTA staff is as follows: 54,827 (97.4%) in regional taxation bureaus and tax offices, 655 (1.2%) in the head office, 355 (0.6%) in National Tax College and 478 (0.8%) in National Tax Tribunal. By type of duty, 68% of NTA staff are engaged in assessing taxes such as income tax, corporate tax and consumption tax, while 15% in revenue management and collection activities, and the remaining 17% in general affairs and coordination.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 942