 Ruling parties agree on shifting heavier tax burden on people The ruling Liberal Democratic and Komei parties on December 15 agreed on a tax "reform" plan for fiscal 2005 (April 2005-March 2006) that will force people to pay more in taxes. The plan includes scaling down by half the fixed-rate tax cuts introduced in 1999 and abolishing exemption of elderly people from the residential tax. It also states that "a drastic tax reform, including the consumption tax, should be achieved in FY 2007," indicating that the government intends to increase the consumption tax rate. "This is a plan to force the public to endure a seizable tax increase over the next several years," said Koike Akira, Japanese Communist Party Policy Commission chair, in a statement published on the same day. (end) |