Foreign investors in Japan avoid $690m in taxes with Singapore loophole
Profit distributions tap both corporate and dividend tax breaks, partly due to treaty
Singapore's tax treaty with Japan has changed little in the past 30 years. © Reuters
ATSUSHI SAI and TOMOSHIZU KAWASE
TOKYO -- Investors putting money into Japan via Singapore avoided roughly 99 billion yen ($690 million) in Japanese taxes between 2020 and 2022 through a treaty loophole allowing them to double-dip on tax breaks, Nikkei has learned from discussions with tax officials.
Based on materials obtained by Nikkei, foreign investors have sent money via tax havens such as the Cayman Islands into Singapore, where local businesses put the funds into a type of Japanese special-purpose company known as a tokutei mokuteki kaisha (TMK).
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