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May 17, 2005
This year's figures for the tax bills paid by the rich and famous in Japan have just been released. Topping the list in the showbiz world for the first time since 1999 is singer-songwriter Utada Hikaru. At the tender age of 22, she forked over almost \365 million in taxes, on income that was just a regular office worker's salary shy of \1 billion. Utada moved up from the No.5 spot last year largely thanks to sales of her greatest hits album "Single Collection Vol.1," which has shifted over 2.5 million copies, and her US debut album "Exodus" which sold about 1.3 million copies at home and abroad. But she was the only celebrity to make the national Top 100, coming in at No.75. Her parents didn't do too badly, either. Her father and producer Utada Teruzane coughed up \67 million in taxes, while her mother, herself a former pop singer, got a bill for just under \60 million. The nation's top taxpayer was an employee at an investment advisory firm, who paid an unbelievable \3.7 billion yen in income tax. Consider that these are just their tax bills and that the average salaried worker earns about \5 million a year.
• Other stars moving up the tax rankings include: SMAP leader and 2002 top earner Nakai Masahiro (32) earned over \500 million, largely thanks to lots of endorsements and 9 regular TV shows, and had a bill of almost \190 million; actor Watanabe Ken, now based in Hollywood, more than doubled his tax bill to just under \50 million; Ichise Takashige, producer of the movie "The Juon," a Hollywood remake of the hit horror flick, paid out about \42 million; veteran director Yamada Yoji (73) paid just under \40 million thanks to the success of his recent samurai movies such as "The Twilight Samurai."
May 17, 2005
This year's figures for the tax bills paid by the rich and famous in Japan have just been released. Topping the list in the showbiz world for the first time since 1999 is singer-songwriter Utada Hikaru. At the tender age of 22, she forked over almost \365 million in taxes, on income that was just a regular office worker's salary shy of \1 billion. Utada moved up from the No.5 spot last year largely thanks to sales of her greatest hits album "Single Collection Vol.1," which has shifted over 2.5 million copies, and her US debut album "Exodus" which sold about 1.3 million copies at home and abroad. But she was the only celebrity to make the national Top 100, coming in at No.75. Her parents didn't do too badly, either. Her father and producer Utada Teruzane coughed up \67 million in taxes, while her mother, herself a former pop singer, got a bill for just under \60 million. The nation's top taxpayer was an employee at an investment advisory firm, who paid an unbelievable \3.7 billion yen in income tax. Consider that these are just their tax bills and that the average salaried worker earns about \5 million a year.
• Other stars moving up the tax rankings include: SMAP leader and 2002 top earner Nakai Masahiro (32) earned over \500 million, largely thanks to lots of endorsements and 9 regular TV shows, and had a bill of almost \190 million; actor Watanabe Ken, now based in Hollywood, more than doubled his tax bill to just under \50 million; Ichise Takashige, producer of the movie "The Juon," a Hollywood remake of the hit horror flick, paid out about \42 million; veteran director Yamada Yoji (73) paid just under \40 million thanks to the success of his recent samurai movies such as "The Twilight Samurai."