Suzuki has been caught hiding 300 million yen ($3 million) in income in its motorcycle racing business over two years.
Japanese tax officials recently discovered that the automaker concealed income by claiming motorbike parts it had used in racing were costs, rather than inventory. However, these parts were never in fact used and according to local tax rules, should have been regarded as inventory unless they were either used or disposed of.
An investigation led by the Nagoya Regional Taxation Bureau also discovered that Suzuki violated tax laws by booking a percentage of development costs before the completion of specific development projects. Additionally, 1.2 billion yen ($11.7 million) in accounting errors were uncovered.
The Japan Times reports that the company will be forced to pay 450 million yen ($4.4 million) in back taxes and penalties for its deceptive accounting practices.
This isn’t the first time Suzuki has found itself in hot water in recent months. Back in May, the company admitted that it had used wrong fuel efficiency and emission testing methods on 16 of its locally sold models.
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