Final Decision on Tax Cut Left to PM Takaichi: LDP Exec

Tokyo, June 7 (Jiji Press)–The final decision on whether to reduce Japan’s consumption tax rate on food to zero pct or 1 pct will be left to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, an executive of her ruling Liberal Democratic Party suggested on Sunday. “We’re pursuing a zero pct tax rate, but the issue will ultimately require a political decision,” LDP policy chief Takayuki Kobayashi said on a television program. Since adjusting cash register systems for a 1 pct tax rate would take less time than for zero pct, implementing 1 pct next April is gaining support within the government and ruling parties. During the TV program, Alex Saito, policy chief of the Japan Innovation Party, the LDP’s junior coalition partner, underscored the need to decide simultaneously on the size and timing of the planned temporary tax cut and the introduction of a refundable tax credit system. Implementing a zero pct tax rate on food is Takaichi’s long-standing goal and was included in the LDP’s campaign platform for the last House of Representatives election in February. Mitsunari Okamoto, policy chief of the opposition Centrist Reform Alliance, said that the prime minister should implement the campaign pledge after the LDP won a landslide in the general election. “I wonder if a 1 pct tax rate would meet the election pledge,” said Eri Tokunaga, policy chief of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. Okamoto argued that a tax cut to 1 pct or zero pct could not help people struggling with rising prices now as it would not be implemented for nearly a year. Makoto Hamaguchi, policy chief of the Democratic Party for the People, also criticized the planned tax cut as “too slow,” and proposed social premium refunds for low- and middle-income earners, among other measures, by the end of the year. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]