Olympus fails to declare $124 mn of income

Tokyo's tax officials have found that Olympus Corp. failed to declare 10.3 billion yen (about $124 million) in taxable earnings over a five-year period, following transactions between its domestic and Britain-based companies.

According to the tax officials Thursday, Olympus is estimated to owe 1.47 billion yen in back payments, excluding those already paid in Britain, Xinhua reported.

The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau had initially charged the camera-maker with 4.9 billion yen in back taxes.

The tax regulatory body implied that Olympus had knowingly transferred taxable income overseas, as the sales price of its products were favourable due to the currency exchange market.

Olympus, on its part, denied the allegations and said it would file an official objection to the claims.

The company's image has been tainted since 2011, when former chief executive Michael Woodford, a British national, was fired for exposing shady accounting transactions that covered up the company's massive losses.

Woodford won a 10 million-pound (about $15.4 million) settlement from Olympus in a British court last year.

Earlier this year, a former Olympus president and two other executives were convicted in a Tokyo court for their role in the cover-up of investment losses, which surfaced after whistle-blower Woodford came forward.