Japan's supreme court has ruled that the son of the founder of failed consumer lender Takefuji Corp does not need to pay gift taxes imposed on shares he received from his parents, awarding him a $2.4 billion refund. Following the Friday's ruling, Toshiki Takei, 45, will receive about 200 billion yen, including interest, from the state - the biggest-ever tax refund for an individual.
The amount is also almost equivalent to the government's stimulus to help small and medium-sized companies' financing. Takefuji filed for bankruptcy protection in September owing $5.1 billion, making it the biggest Japanese consumer lender to fail since a court ruling in 2006 forced the non-bank industry to repay borrowers for excessive interest charges. Takefuji, founded by Yasuo Takei who was ranked by Forbes as Japan's second-richest person in 2005, had overcharged as much as 2 trillion yen from about 2 million consumers when it failed.
The tax settlement could ignite another court battle with consumers seeking overcharged interest refunds, the Nikkei business daily said. Lawyers representing borrowers have begun considering legal action against the former management as the tax refunds will be treated as Takei's private assets, the paper said.