Japan’s tax agency has revealed some of the surprising ways people evaded taxes last year.

The residents of one house hid almost 500,000 dollars under the kitchen floorboards.

In another house, investigators found almost a million dollars under the mattress.

Japanese tax officials say they uncovered almost 150 million dollars in tax evasion last year.

They say that’s the lowest since 1974.

Officials believe the slow economy is behind the fall.

But they say cases involving the sales and withholding taxes are on the rise.

The agency’s chief investigator says they will work hard to reveal tax evasion.

The agency says techniques for avoiding taxes such as by using cross-border transactions are growing increasingly complex.