<figure id="attachment_373063" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 752px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-373063"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="62273db5"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/05/277ac24b5fc660334cd72c63d2e61b55.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-373063" class="wp-caption-text">Hayato Sakamoto comes out of a cabaret club with his colleague Masahiko Morifuku (left). Was the cost of the trip also an &#8220;expense&#8221;? (in &#8217;18)</figcaption></figure>
A report has emerged that Hayato Sakamoto of the professional baseball team, the Giants, has &#8220;failed to declare a huge amount of money.
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According to the May 16 issue of &#8220;Shukan Shincho&#8221; (weekly magazine), Sakamoto has been reporting the cost of dining and drinking at high-class clubs in Ginza and Roppongi as necessary expenses on his annual tax returns. A retrospective check of the last five years confirmed that Sakamoto had recorded approximately 20 million yen per year, or a total of 100 million yen in expenses.
When the tax office pointed this out to Sakamoto, he said
 &#8220;We have been allowed to include food and beverage expenses in the past,&#8221; Sakamoto&#8217;s side claimed.
Sakamoto&#8217;s side claimed that the tax office had &#8220;accepted the expenses for food and beverages in the past. The Yomiuri Giants&#8217; public relations department told the magazine, &#8220;In regard to tax reporting, we are not responsible for any tax-related issues that may arise in the course of our business.
 The Yomiuri Giants&#8217; public relations department responded, &#8220;We are continuing discussions with the local tax office regarding tax reporting, and we intend to follow their guidance and file and pay appropriate taxes.
The Giants&#8217; public relations department responded, &#8220;We are continuing discussions with the local tax office regarding our tax returns. The company emphasizes that this is not a malicious failure to declare or conceal income.
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Sakamoto&#8217;s tax returns were mainly filed by a private firm represented by a relative. While it is understandable that he would have recorded expenses if they were directly related to his main business, it is questionable whether eating and drinking at high-class clubs in Ginza and Roppongi would fall under that category.
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="The &quot;actions he took&quot; at the restaurants he entered with women are available at ......"></div>
In fact, a man who witnessed Sakamoto eating and drinking in the city at night testified as follows.
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 Sakamoto once came to a high-class meat restaurant in Minato-ku accompanied by a woman. It is not clear whether the woman was his girlfriend or whether she was working in the baseball business.
 However, as we watched, Sakamoto-san did not talk to the woman at all, but just quietly scarfed down the meat. The woman was also fiddling with her cell phone the whole time. It was an odd sight to see from the outside. Talking about baseball? We didn&#8217;t talk about baseball at all.
When it came time to pay the bill, Sakamoto took the slip to the cashier and instructed, &#8220;Please give me the receipt, Sakamoto.
 Receipt, Sakamoto please.&#8221;
According to the man mentioned above.
 The bill for the two of us with the woman was about 30,000 yen. I thought to myself, &#8216;Even a 600 million yen player would cut off the receipt.
Sakamoto is a regular customer of the restaurant. Sakamoto is a regular customer at the restaurant, and he often came to the restaurant to get a receipt.
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On the other hand, Sakamoto was also &#8220;targeted&#8221; in this case.
As reported in Shincho, Tokyo&#8217;s Shibuya Ward, where many high-taxpayers live, has been investigating since last summer to see if the tax payments of athletes living in the ward are appropriate. Sakamoto was one of those who came to light.
 In a sense, Sakamoto was made an example of. He is a star player of the legendary Giants.
 He is a star player in the Giants&#8217; baseball team, known to all professional baseball fans, and has a great ripple effect on the public and on other athletes. In fact, there is an uproar in baseball circles that Sakamoto has been beaten up by the tax office.
As Sakamoto&#8217;s side says, &#8220;It was fine until now,&#8221; the recording of expenses for food and beverages was a gray area. A source in the baseball world said, &#8220;If Sakamoto is out, then others will be too.
 If Sakamoto is out, I think everyone else will be caught. If Sakamoto is out, I think everyone else will be caught. Just like the political activity expenses of Diet members, it has been a black box for many years.
 The point is that the tax office has started to carefully examine high-income earners. Athletes must have been the first to be noticed.
The point is that the tax office has started to carefully examine high-income earners.
If a taxpayer files an amended tax return, he or she may be subject to additional taxation. Depending on the amount, an additional tax for underpayment is imposed on the tax due at a rate of 10% or 15% (the amount exceeding the greater of the tax due on the tax return submitted on time or 500,000 yen).
In Sakamoto&#8217;s case, it is possible that the tax will be backdated five years, and even if he is a 600 million yen player, it is certain to be a very painful expense.
 It would be like a warning from the tax authorities to a celebrity. I think there are a lot of people who are probably in a state of panic about this right now. (A reporter for a sports newspaper)
Sakamoto was a well-known figure on the nightlife circuit. It would be sad to see him disappear from the scene. &#8230;&#8230;

 Takahiro Kagawa

 Yomiuri Giants player Hayato Sakamoto is a superstar of the professional baseball world with an estimated salary of 600 million yen a year. Now, the Yomiuri Giants' Hayato Sakamoto, a professional baseball superstar with an estimated salary of 600 million yen, has been found to have failed to declare his income, which is said to amount to 100 million yen. ......

Giants’ Hayato Sakamoto Linked to Undeclared 100 Million Yen Scandal

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