Billionaire Art Collector Yusaku Maezawa Brushes Off Media Reports Accusing Him of Tax Evasion

The billionaire art collector Yusaku Maezawa has responded to
Japanese media reports accusing him of tax evasion. The owner of an
$110-million Basquiat
and the star passenger of Elon Musk’s planned SpaceX moon flight
took to Twitter to answer to allegations that he failed to
declare about ¥500 million ($4.6 million) in taxable income.

“I will not run or hide, and I will spare no effort in paying my
taxes if you explain how they should be handled, so please make an
efficient use of our taxes,” Maezawa tweeted on Wednesday in
response to an article reporting that he was audited by Japan’s
National Tax Agency in 2019. He added “for reference” that he
has paid ¥50 billion ($464 million) in tax over the past five
years, and cheekily pointed out that his name was mispelled in the
media reports.

According to a report in the
Japan Times, an asset management company belonging to Yusaku
Maezawa underreported income over three years by failing to
declare Maezawa’s use of a company jet for private purposes. Citing
inside sources, the report says that after the error was pointed
out by the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau, the company corrected
its tax report but paid no additional taxes as the undeclared
income had been offset by losses.

Maezawa is also alleged to have failed to pay ¥99 million
($918,000) over the three years through 2018 in personal taxable
income earned from selling paintings. The report says he corrected
his declaration and paid the additional tax as well as a penalty
fee of about ¥40 million ($371,000).

“I hope to realize a nation where people can live in peace and
security, where the secrets of the people are not secretly leaked
to certain newspapers,” Maezawa added on Twitter.

The former fashion entrepreneur is an esteemed art collector
known for acquiring Jean-Michel Basquiat’s painting 1982 skull
painting, as well as for buying a ticket around the moon for Elon
Musk’s 2023 SpaceX flight. Maezawa plans to bring
artists with him on the flight. He made headlines again earlier
this year for his plan to hand out $9 million
to his Twitter followers—about ($9,000) each to 1,000 randomly
selected individuals—to see if money makes them happy.

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