Japan PM Fumio Kishida Announces 40,000-Yen Tax Cut in June 2024

12:16 JST, October 27, 2023

Tokyo (Jiji Press)—Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced Thursday a plan to cut tax by 40,000 per person in June 2024 to reduce the impact of inflation on households.

“Reducing income and individual residential taxes is most desirable,” Kishida told a meeting on policy issues between the government and the ruling camp led by his Liberal Democratic Party.

Kishida also announced a plan to provide a cash benefit of ¥70,000 to each low-income household exempted from residential tax payments.

The total costs of the tax cut and the cash benefit are expected to reach some ¥5 trillion.

Income and individual residential tax revenues have increased by ¥3.5 trillion over the past two years, so the government will directly return them to the public, Kishida said.

Specifically, the government plans to cut the income and residential taxes by ¥30,000 and ¥10,000, respectively, per taxpayer. The taxes are to be reduced by an additional ¥40,000 per dependent family member.

After the tax system research commissions of the LDP and its coalition partner, Komeito, work out details of the tax reduction toward year-end, the government aims to submit tax system reform legislation to next year’s ordinary parliamentary session.

Kishida said that the government will include the 70,000-yen cash benefit for low-income households in its economic measures to be adopted at a cabinet meeting Nov. 2.

The benefit would add to a similar handout of ¥30,000 distributed to such households as part of measures against soaring prices adopted in spring.

The government plans to secure funds necessary for the planned cash benefit under a fiscal 2023 supplementary budget to be submitted to the current extraordinary parliamentary session.

Kishida also said that the government will provide special support to households not expected to benefit fully from the tax cuts or eligible for the cash benefit because of their income levels.