Takaichi Pushes 8% Food Tax Cut by Early August as ¥4 Trillion Revenue Gap Looms
Updated
Updated · The Mainichi · Jul 22
Takaichi Pushes 8% Food Tax Cut by Early August as ¥4 Trillion Revenue Gap Looms
3 articles · Updated · The Mainichi · Jul 22
Summary
Early August is now Takaichi’s target for deciding Japan’s food consumption tax cut after the social security council missed its original pre-summer timetable.
Onodera’s June proposal would cut the food tax rate to 1% from 8% and redirect the remaining 1 percentage point of revenue into benefits, but talks stalled amid opposition objections and Diet delays.
More than ¥4 trillion a year in lost revenue remains the central obstacle, with Takaichi ruling out deficit-financing bonds and pointing instead to special corporate tax breaks that ministries have barely moved to scrap.
Takaichi says the cut could start next April and last two years, but critics warn restoring the rate later would amount to a sharp tax hike and could unsettle households, the yen and prices.