Only 4% of beneficiaries get 64% of benefit from capital gains tax break

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Only 4% of beneficiaries get 64% of benefit from capital gains tax break

Japanese Communist Party House of Representatives member Sasaki Kensho has revealed that a handful of the wealthy receive more than half of the benefits from the preferential tax break for capital gains, which the Abe Cabinet plans to extend for one more year.

According to Sasaki's calculation based on material in FY 2004 he obtained from the Finance Ministry, the amount of tax cuts made by the measure to halve the tax on capital gains and dividends from 20 percent to 10 percent was 135.7 billion yen. The number of those who declared income from capital gains and dividends was 196,986.

Out of the 135.7 billion yen, 86.9 billion yen or 64 percent went to those with declared incomes of more than 50 million yen. Out of the 196,986 persons, 7,525 persons or 3.8 percent declared incomes of more than 50 million yen.

In short, only 3.8 percent of the wealthy shared 64 percent of the tax cut, or each of these wealthy persons receive a benefit of 11.6 million yen on average.

Commenting on this, Sasaki said, "The government and ruling parties are pushing ahead with an 'upside-down' taxation system to impose heavier taxes on the public by means of abolishing fixed-rate tax cuts and others, while continuing to provide tax breaks for the wealthy. The government must end the policy of forcing the public to shoulder more burdens and should levy more taxes on the wealthy who are making enormous profits in stocks speculation."
- Akahata, December 17, 2006