Panasonic fails to declare 22 bil. yen in income

OSAKA —

Tax authorities have determined Panasonic Corp. has failed to declare about 22 billion yen in taxable income over a five-year period through March 2009 in connection with transactions with its Chinese subsidiary, sources familiar with the matter said Monday. The Osaka Regional Taxation Bureau has judged that the Osaka-based electronics giant concealed about 700 million yen of the total, and apparently imposed about several hundred millions of yen in back taxes on the company, the sources said.

But the tax authorities seem to have not imposed a heavy additional tax, which would correspond with the amount of corporate taxation, as the transactions took place during a period when the company was in the red, the sources said. ‘‘We have paid the entire amount’’ the authorities asked for, a Panasonic official said, without specifying the value.

According to the sources, Panasonic sold products to the Chinese subsidiary at unfairly low prices, leading the tax authorities to determine that the price cutting was aimed at supporting the subsidiary. The authorities have likely judged that Panasonic intentionally shifted profits to the subsidiary. ‘‘Though there were some conflicts in views (with the authorities), the company agreed to accept’’ the back taxes, a Panasonic public relations official said.

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