Japan Govt Mulls Revising Up Income Tax Threshold Every 2 years

Tokyo, Dec. 10 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s government and ruling coalition are considering introducing a system to revise up the minimum taxable income level every two years according to price increases in order to help reduce people’s tax burdens, it was learned Wednesday. The government and the Liberal Democratic Party-led coalition aim to include the plan in the upcoming tax system reform framework for fiscal 2026 after working out details and holding talks with the opposition side. The minimum taxable income level represents the combined amount of basic deductions, applied to all people with incomes, and employee income deductions, eligible to salaried workers. Being considered is a plan to raise the ceiling for the basic deductions from the current 950,000 yen a year in accordance with growth in the consumer price index. The opposition Democratic Party for the People is demanding that the annual minimum taxable income level be raised to 1.78 million yen from the current 1.6 million yen. The barrier apparently leads to people curbing working hours. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, leader of the LDP, is willing to raise the threshold, including employee income deductions, to help resolve the labor shortages crippling many industries in the country. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]