LDP, Komeito, DPFP Discuss Economic Measures; ‘¥1.03 Million Barrier’ Revision Remains at Center of Attention

The Yomiuri Shimbun
LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Itsunori Onodera, second from right, Komeito counterpart Mitsunari Okamoto, right, and DPFP counterpart Makoto Hamaguchi, left, attend a discussion on comprehensive economic measures at the Diet Building on Friday.

The Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito and the Democratic Party for the People on Friday discussed the comprehensive economic measures that the government plans to compile by the end of the month, at a meeting of policy research council chairpersons.

LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Itsunori Onodera, Komeito counterpart Mitsunari Okamoto and DPFP counterpart Makoto Hamaguchi held the talks at the Diet Building in Tokyo.

The focus will be on how they can find common ground to include the revision of the so-called “¥1.03 million barrier” into the economic measures, which the DPFP is placing the highest priority on. The barrier is the annual income level above which people must pay income tax.

The LDP and Komeito obtained approval for their respective economic stimulus proposals from their parties on Thursday.

At the three-party meeting, they explained the current situation to the DPFP.

The draft economic stimulus package will mainly consist of providing ¥30,000 to households exempt from resident tax, with an additional ¥20,000 per child in such households.

Policies requested by the DPFP twice, such as one to reduce the burden of electricity and gas bills, were also included in the draft. However, the revision of the ¥1.03 million barrier has yet to be included.

The three parties also plan to start discussions on the tax system next week with the chairs of their research commissions on the tax system. They are also expected to begin full-scale coordination for tax system revisions at the end of the year.