Nekokurage, one of The Apothecary Diaries manga artists, has been sentenced to 10 months of prison, suspended for three years, and a fine of 11 million yen (around $71,000) for tax evasion. The suspended prison sentence means that unless she commits a similar offense in the next three years, she will not actually go to prison.
The Fukuoka Regional Taxation Bureau announced on April 1 that Nekourage failed to declare around 260 million yen (~$1.7m) in income, with 47 million yen ($310k) subject to taxation between 2019 and 2021. Nekokurage, whose real name is Erika Ikeda, apologized when the information became public and admitted that she failed to pay her taxes out of ignorance and lack of education on the matter.
During the hearing at the end of May, the prosecution stated that Nekokurage, who began working as a mangaka in 2010, was made aware of the duty to file tax returns, but chose to prioritize deadlines. It was also pointed out that she repeatedly failed to meet the deadline for filing tax returns and filed them for several years at once. Nekokurage’s editor’s statement was also read; the editor warned her about filing taxes because “if trouble happens the series could be canceled.” The manga artist has been working with an accountant since April and has paid the amount owed, including late fees.
Nekokurage has been working on The Apothecary Diaries since 2017 when the series got a manga adaptation in Square Enix’s Monthly Big Gangan. Itsuki Nanao is in charge of the story development for the adaptation. The series has another manga adaptation with art by Minoji Kurata in Shogakukan’s Monthly Sunday Gene-X.
Source: Kyodo
Featured image: The Apothecary Diaries, ©Natsu Hyuga, Imagica infos / The Apothecary Diaries Project
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