Government admits that senior citizens' burdens may increase by 40 times

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Government admits that senior citizens' burdens may increase by 40 times

Due to the increase in the taxation of pension benefits, senior citizens in FY 2007 may be forced to pay 40 times what they paid in FY 2001 in income and residential taxes.

Finance Minister Omi Koji admitted this in reply to Japanese Communist Party representative Sasaki Kensho at a House of Representatives Committee on Financial Affairs meeting on October 27.

Criticizing the government measure for treating senior citizens badly, Sasaki said, "Combined with the increase in income tax and residential tax and an increase in the nursing-care insurance premiums and service charges, elderly people will have to spend nearly half of their yearly income for the taxes, the premiums, and the nursing-care service charges."

In disregard of senior citizens' financial hardships, Omi said, "In order to deal with the tough situation of active workers' burdens, the government has revised the taxation rate on pensions."

In the case in which a husband receives a pension benefit of three million yen a year and his wife receives 792,000 yen, their income and residential taxes will increase by about 40 times to 141,600 yen in FY 2007 from 3,600 yen in FY 2001.

In the case in which a husband receives a yearly pension income of 2.25 million yen and his wife receives 792,000 yen, their total burdens will reach about 1.2 million yen in FY 2007, up 580,000 yen from FY 2001 due to the increase in these taxes as well as in the nursing-care insurance premiums, the national health insurance premiums, and nursing-care service charges.
- Akahata, October 28, 2006