WAKAYAMA (TR) – A historic temple offering lodging at the Mt. Koya World Heritage site has been slapped with roughly 40 million yen in back taxes after authorities uncovered 90 million yen in undeclared income, it has been learned, reports Mainichi Broadcasting System (Sep. 13).
According to sources, regional tax authorities discovered the massive shortfall in the accounting of Souji-in, a prominent temple that operates a shukubo (traditional temple lodging) for tourists and pilgrims. The subsequent tax bill of 40 million yen includes heavy penalty taxes for the concealment of funds.
Following the probe, the temple released a statement on its official website acknowledging the investigation. Blaming the discrepancy on “past accounting practices” tied to external affairs within its lodging department, Souji-in revealed that it has since reorganized the department and forced the resignation of an executive over the scandal.
The temple confirmed that the multi-million-yen tax penalty has already been paid in full.
“We sincerely apologize from the bottom of our hearts for causing concern,” Souji-in said in its statement, vowing to “heighten the transparency and appropriateness of our accounting and temple management more than ever before.”
