Increasing Bankruptcies Due to Tax Burdens and Cash Flow Issues

Sugawara reveals that rising taxes and strict collection efforts are driving a historical increase in bankruptcies among companies.

### Rising Bankruptcies: The Impact of Taxes and Economic Strain on Businesses
* 📉 "As of August this year, the pace of tax-related bankruptcies reached a **historical high**, with 123 cases recorded—a staggering **127% increase** from the previous year."
* 💰 The burden of rising taxes and social insurance premiums has become **overwhelming for many companies**, leading to financial mismanagement and eventual bankruptcy.
* 💼 Social insurance premiums must be paid in full regardless of a company's financial status, creating **significant cash flow issues**, especially for those **operating at a loss**.
* 📊 The advance payment system for consumption tax exacerbates cash flow problems, forcing companies to **pay taxes before their financial closing**, which can lead to **further debt and borrowing**.
* 🏦 The repayment of COVID-19 loans has added to the financial strain, as small and medium-sized enterprises struggle to **meet their obligations amidst rising interest rates and stricter lending practices**.
* 🔍 Financial institutions are now conducting reputation risk reviews, assessing companies not just on financial statements but also on their **online presence**, making it harder for those with **negative evaluations** to secure loans.
* ⚖ To mitigate these challenges, businesses are advised to **borrow proactively**, maintain cash reserves during profitable periods, and prepare for future downturns to **avoid falling into the cycle of debt and bankruptcy**.
* 📈 Overall, the combination of **increased taxes, economic pressures, and poor financial planning** has led to a worrying trend of bankruptcies, highlighting the need for **strategic financial management in uncertain times**.

Funding is tight, and those who have missed even a single payment know they can't pay anymore. Recently, I immediately got in touch with Mr. Saito. Hello, I’m Sugawara, a tax accountant. 

Sugawara-san, it seems that the number of companies going bankrupt due to tax arrears is increasing. Yes, why is that? Well, it seems to be increasing historically. Taxes and social insurance premiums are rising, and that’s quite burdensome. Moreover, collection efforts have become stricter. 

Yes, the collection efforts are indeed harsh. As a result, companies are unable to manage their finances and end up going bankrupt. It seems that as of August this year, the pace of such bankruptcies has reached a historical high. To avoid such situations, what should have been done? I’d like you to explain that today. 

Right, so why has this happened? I think you understand it best—there’s no money. I almost forgot about that; it’s exactly what we discussed earlier. I was quite anxious because if this becomes a topic here... there are various reasons, such as a lack of funds, not planning properly, or not including it in the schedule.

However, due to the current economic situation, I would like to discuss why tax-related bankruptcies are increasing, what could have been done differently, and what we should do moving forward. Please check this until the end. 

First, from January to August this year, there were 123 tax-related bankruptcies, which is the highest pace on record, with a year-on-year increase of 127%. If this trend continues, it is expected to exceed 200 cases by the end of the year, which would be an overwhelming record. 

When we talk about taxes, we also include social insurance premiums, and it seems that there are probably more people defaulting on social insurance payments. For instance, corporate tax can be as low as 70,000 yen if the company is in the black. If the company is profitable, it can manage to pay that amount. However, social insurance premiums come in regardless of whether the company is in the red; they come in full force. 

For example, if a company has 10 employees earning 4 million yen each, that totals 40 million yen. The social insurance burden on that amount would be around 15%, which translates to 6 million yen. Yes, that’s a significant amount.

It's a lot, 500,000 yen every month. If it's a deficit, that's impossible. Also, there are some taxes that you have to pay even if you're in the red. I think it's income tax, but no, it's consumption tax. The consumption tax occurs even when you're in the red, and the amount can be quite large. Furthermore, there's a system called zenno, where you have to pay taxes in advance. So, you have to pay taxes in advance every three months or every six months, or for some companies, every month. As a result, cash flow becomes increasingly tight. You end up paying things that you should normally pay at the time of the financial closing, like nine months, six months, or three months in advance. It's impossible. Why do you have to pay things that should be settled at the financial closing so far in advance? This really tightens cash flow. It's difficult. Because of this, you have to borrow money from the bank and pay interest, which doesn’t make any sense. And if you can't borrow from the bank, that's exactly the case. It's a tough situation.

Also, there are property taxes, and just owning real estate or machinery incurs taxes. That can lead to bankruptcy. I experienced it too. You just forgot about it, right? I was surprised. 

Today, I want to point out something: consumption tax has to be paid in advance. Depending on the amount of consumption tax, you may have to pay it in advance every six months, every three months, or even monthly. This creates a tight cash flow situation. Normally, you would pay it at the time of settlement, but instead, you have to pay it in advance. 

Now, if we eliminated the advance payment and required full payment at the time of settlement, it would ease cash flow, right? But it would actually lead to more bankruptcies. Why is that? Because you would save that amount until settlement, and when the time comes, you would have to pay it all at once. This is a complicated issue. While advance payments are tough on cash flow, eliminating them doesn’t necessarily make things easier.

寄せがてもになん払えそう考えると、前払いの方がやりやすそうですね。そういう意味では、厳選所得税というのもあります。社員の給料から厳選を引いて、社員の代わりに収めなければなりません。厳選所得税は本当は毎月払っていくものですが、例えば僕の会社のミ君が社員だった場合、万が一給料を払って厳選を引くことになります。それは本来、ミ君の所得税を会社が預かって国に収めるということです。これを毎月やっていくのですが、社員が「いやだ」と言ったら、もう毎月でもいいよと、めんどくさいから半年に1度でいいよと言って、半年分の厳選を貯めて払うことになります。しかし、ちゃんと貯めているかという話です。そうですね、確認したくなりますね。で、大体使ってしまうわけです。そんなお金に色がついていないので、これはミ君の厳選と言って貯金箱に入れているわけではないですからね。確かに、半年に1度ドンとくるわけですから、そうなると払えないこともあります。みんな

I wonder if I should just pretend it’s not happening anymore. Then, I might not be able to pay. But this is the company's responsibility. The prepayment of consumption tax is also the company's responsibility. However, for employees, it's basically uncommon to have tax arrears. That's right; they just take care of it for you. They automatically deduct it from your salary every month. So, salaried workers don’t really have tax arrears. But you’re not a salaried worker, and you had tax arrears. I was really surprised. It was like, What is this? This is embarrassing. I thought I should create some material around this as my partner regarding tax issues. When you have to file your own taxes, there can be oversights. But for salaried workers, the company automatically deducts and pays it on their behalf, so they don’t have that issue. One way to eliminate this issue, although it has its pros and cons, is…

A way to eliminate it is to automatically pay in advance every month. Implementing such a system would reduce the burden. If it's a system that automatically deducts payments, then it becomes easier to manage if it's done monthly rather than having to pay in a lump sum every three months or every six months, which can feel heavy. When it comes all at once, it becomes a strain because you have to pay a large amount. So, if we change the system to allow for smaller, more frequent payments, it would help reduce the stress. It would be nice to have smaller amounts deducted monthly. Alternatively, I would prefer a post-payment or installment plan. It would be great if we could choose between a lump sum or an installment option, similar to how you can choose when making a purchase with a credit card. It would be nice to have a website that allows for such settings, where you can set up installment payments yourself. The increase in debt is mainly due to the lack of funds; if people had the necessary funds, they wouldn’t fall behind on payments.

The reason there isn't any is that, first of all, the repayment for the COVID-19 loans has started. This is significant. I thought that was the case, and when I was told about it, I realized that the repayment for the COVID-19 loans is indeed heavy. That's true. Yes, the repayment for the COVID-19 loans is quite burdensome. In my case, I received COVID-19 loans, but I also refinanced and took out new loans, so my borrowing hasn't just decreased; it has actually increased. 

That's right. However, currently, financial institutions are in a phase of rising interest rates, and it's quite difficult for them to provide loans to small and medium-sized enterprises. As a result, the burden on these businesses is becoming heavier. Therefore, they are very strict about selecting their borrowers. 

I see, because there is a possibility that the money may not come back. Yes, there is a possibility that it won't come back. During the COVID-19 period, anyone could borrow, but now they are thinking about where they can lend money and ensure that it will come back properly.

So, they are ranking things. Sugawara is ranking them, and it's okay because Sugawara-san will actively strive for victory. Therefore, I don't have to ask for anything; they will naturally offer it to me. The second person, Tamura, if he says, Can you lend it to me due to certain circumstances? I would think, Well, okay, I’ll lend it. I would consider it for a bit. The third one, please. Well, hurry back, because it really gets strict. It’s becoming quite severe. Oh, is it that strict? Yes, it’s becoming strict. Also, in financial institutions, there’s something called debut risk review and reputation risk. I heard about reputation risk for the very first time. It refers to the risk of a company suffering losses due to the spread of negative evaluations about it, which can lower its credibility and brand value. Recently, financial institutions are not only looking at financial statements but also researching the reputation of companies online. If strange information appears on the internet...

最近、融資が降りなくなることが多くなっています。ネット社会になってきたからです。SNSやウェブのいろんな情報サイトがありますよね。そこで「この会社はどうだ」とか書かれていたら、評判が良いと思われます。すぐにその情報をYouTubeで見ることができますからね。そうなると、悪い評判のあるところには貸さなくなりますよね。金融機関は、いろんな有力な中小企業の中から、あえて評判の悪いところには貸そうとはしないでしょう。最近は、そういうことがシビアに見られるようになっています。それも怖いですよね。何か悪いことが書かれてしまうと、普通に影響がありますからね。真面目に滞納せずにやっていても、融資が借りられない場合はどうすればいいのでしょうか。経費の削減を考えなければなりません。自分でコントロールできる部分を見直す必要があります。

There are many small and medium-sized enterprises that are struggling with repayments. So, were these companies doing well before COVID-19? The loans provided during the pandemic have largely served as a means of survival rather than a true recovery. In reality, they should have been restructuring their businesses, but instead, they made no changes and have just restarted after COVID-19 without any improvements. Therefore, even though they received aid, it was only a matter of time before they faced difficulties again. Business is all about competition; not every company can succeed. If one company grows, another will inevitably decline. This is the nature of a competitive society. Bankruptcy is something that can happen even in normal times. There are many negative conditions overlapping, such as rising prices, labor shortages, and high personnel costs. Currently, there aren't many good materials available either. It seems we might also see a trend towards increased taxes.

There is a possibility that the number of people who are unable to pay taxes may increase in the future. When it comes to people who are in arrears, if you give them a little time and wait, will they eventually pay? Well, they often don’t. Is that so? They can’t pay, right? Those who cannot pay are not going to suddenly be able to. Generally speaking, I don’t know if Nishikuni has experience with this, but in any business, there are people who cannot pay their accounts receivable by the due date. If you wait for two or three months, will they pay? Almost never. Occasionally, like in this case with the tax payment, they might say they forgot and then pay, but those who say, “I forgot, and I couldn’t pay because my cash flow is tight,” are not going to be able to pay two months, three months, or even six months later. About 95% will not be able to pay. Yes, that’s right. The pension office and banks understand this too. They know that if someone is in financial trouble and has fallen behind even a little, they probably cannot pay at all.

As soon as it enters, there's no escaping anymore. Once you get into the car, it's all over. Is that so? The bank deposits get locked, and there's no mercy; it's really dangerous. I was almost in a tough spot too, right? If we had left it like that... it would have been bad. It really does happen quickly, doesn't it? Recently, things happen very fast, especially with the pension office; it seems stricter than the National Tax Agency. Oh, really? The National Tax Agency still considers the continuity of businesses a bit and gives some leeway. They somewhat understand business, I guess. But the pension office... it's hard to say they understand business or not, but it seems irrelevant; it's scary. Once you're in that situation, you can't borrow from the bank anymore. That's why I always say it's important to take preventive measures—borrow as much as you can when you can. Consult with the bank early on.

Before the cash flow becomes tight, it's important to consult and take measures to prevent that from happening in the future. There are still companies with stable performance, like mine, which isn't in a tough situation right now. However, we never know when things might change. Therefore, we should defer the profits made during good times to prepare for the bad times, ensuring that when those difficult periods arrive, we can still see the benefits return. We need to create a business model that stabilizes performance as much as possible. I always strive to do this, so even if sales drop, there is a mechanism in place to maintain a certain level of stability. It's working well. 

There are many experts who say that paying taxes is better for accumulating wealth and that it's better not to save money. However, that's not necessarily true. We can't predict how things will be next year; there might be troubles that could affect the company's performance.

しれへしだからね。め時に収めとったらあかんの業績のいい時に繰り延べんので、業績の悪い時に備えて繰り延べていく。そうやって業績は安定させるってことを考えやな、長期で見てかなあかんの。そんなもん、税金収めてそっちの方がお金残るよなんて言っとるよ。じゃあ、全然経としてどうかなって僕は思いますけどね。

そうですね、僕もそう思います。なんかあれやね、晴れが悪い、そんなことないですよ。僕もそう思います。で、その中で今回、倒産が増えてるってことなんですけど、コロナが起きる前までは、そこで何が原因で産がうんですか。それまでは普通に業績不審なんやけど、なぜ税金の多能、社会保険料の多能が増えてるかっていうと、銀行融資の返済が滞っていたりする。あとは給料とか仕入れとかで、ビジネスに成り立たせるための支払いを優先しちゃうわけで、税金とか社会保険料ってビジネス

There is another topic that I will put off for now, which is the increasing burden of social insurance. Previously, it was somewhat similar, but the burden of social insurance and consumption tax was not as significant. The consumption tax rate was lower, and there was no invoice system. Therefore, the amount paid for social insurance premiums was also less than it is now. So, times have changed, and the amount we pay to the government has increased. Japan has become a tax-heavy country, and I really wish something could be done about it. It might be better to consider leaving. There have been discussions about this before, especially with the upcoming elections. People often say they are waiting for someone to run for office, but it seems that no one is stepping up.

Today, I want to explain why the number of bankruptcies due to the burden of taxes and social insurance premiums has increased more than ever before. There are many negative factors at play right now, such as loan repayments, rising prices, and increased labor costs.

There are various issues related to a labor shortage, such as exchange rate problems and the increasing amount of taxes that companies have to pay. The burden of taxes has grown compared to before, and tax increases are becoming more common. When running a business, there will inevitably be tough times like these. Therefore, as a countermeasure, it’s important to borrow as much as you can from the bank while you still can. Keeping this in mind and consulting with the bank in advance to maintain sufficient cash flow can help avoid issues like payment delays. This should be the first step. Additionally, during profitable times, it’s crucial to defer profits and prepare for the lean times ahead. I believe this is essential. If you’re just focused on paying taxes and not leaving any cash on hand, you won’t be able to cope during difficult periods, so please be careful. With that said, if you found today’s video informative, I will continue to share such information, so please consider subscribing to the channel and stay tuned.

I'm happy to share information about SMG School, where I serve as a lecturer. At SMG School, we discuss topics that can't be mentioned on YouTube, so please be sure to register through the link in the description. If you have any themes or questions you would like us to cover in the future, please write them in the comments, and we will pick them up in future videos. 

As for the performance, I wonder where it went? I've reached up to 80,000 in the past. If you haven't read it yet, please give it a try. The first issue of the Cash Rich Letter has been exchanged. It contains about 100 pages of financial information. Some of it summarizes my YouTube content, while there are also topics not covered on YouTube. I would be happy if you could check the link in the description and read it. 

Well then, see you in the next video. Thank you very much! 

Now, for today's bonus question: Is there a country you absolutely want to visit? Yes, the country I absolutely want to visit is Spain. Right now, I want to go to a soccer powerhouse. I’ve heard that Europe is really into soccer. I would also like to visit Italy and France.

行ってない国といえば、行ってみたいのはスペインかな。スペインには何かあるんですか？サッカー観光とかじゃないんですか？スペインには何があるかよくわからないですね。サグラダ・ファミリアぐらいしかわからないです。海外のサッカーの試合も、やっぱり見に行ったことがないので、見に行きたいですね。その雰囲気を味わいたいです。僕もNBAを見たいんですよ。それと同じ感じですよね。全然、僕も撮影についていきます。会社の景気でどうにかしていけるようにします。はい、すいません。ありがとうございます。

【大倒産ラッシュ】税金や社会保険料の滞納で、多くの企業が倒産してしまっている悲惨な現状について解説します！

脱・税理士スガワラくん

Tax-related bankruptcies have reached a historical high, with 123 cases from January to August this year, a 127% increase from the previous year.

The rising burden of taxes and social insurance premiums, along with stricter collection efforts, are contributing to the financial struggles of companies.

Advance payments for taxes, including consumption tax, are tightening cash flow, creating a challenging situation for businesses and potentially leading to more bankruptcies.

The Challenges of Tax Payment for Employees

Prepayment of taxes, like the withholding income tax, can be difficult for employees, leading to potential payment issues.

Salaried workers typically don't have tax arrears, as companies automatically deduct and pay taxes on their behalf.

Implementing a system for smaller, more frequent payments could help reduce the financial strain and stress of tax payments.

The Impact of COVID-19 Loan Repayments on Small Businesses

The repayment for COVID-19 loans has started and is proving to be burdensome, leading to an increase in borrowing for some.

Financial institutions are facing rising interest rates, making it difficult to provide loans to small and medium-sized enterprises, resulting in strict borrower selection.

Additionally, financial institutions are now considering a company's online reputation and negative evaluations, making it harder for businesses with a poor reputation to secure loans.

Struggles of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Post-COVID-19

Many small and medium-sized enterprises are struggling with repayments, having relied on pandemic loans for survival rather than true recovery.

These companies made no significant changes to their business models and are now facing difficulties again.

Negative conditions such as rising prices, labor shortages, and high personnel costs, along with a potential increase in taxes, are contributing to the financial troubles, making it crucial for businesses to take preventive measures and consult with banks early on.

The Impact of Taxes and Social Insurance on Business Stability

Consulting and taking preventive measures before cash flow tightens is crucial for business stability.

Deferring profits during good times can help prepare for potential downturns.

The increasing burden of taxes and social insurance premiums, along with rising prices and labor costs, has contributed to a rise in bankruptcies.

Addressing Labor Shortages and Business Challenges

Labor shortages are linked to exchange rate issues and increasing taxes for companies.

To navigate tough times, it's crucial to borrow from the bank and maintain sufficient cash flow.

Deferring profits during profitable periods and leaving cash on hand can help businesses cope with lean times ahead.