Business circles push major parties for consumption tax hikes

   The Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) on December 11 published a 10-point policy priority list that includes increases in the consumption tax rate and reductions in corporate taxes as a guideline for its member companies in making donations to political parties.

   The paper demands an increase in the consumption tax rate in order to “respond to the increase in social welfare expenditures.” It proposes to implement “a drastic reform in taxation, including consumption tax rate increases,” in order for the government to secure the source of its share of burden for the basic pension system that will be raised from the present one third to one half.

   Keidanren also urges parties to lower the effective corporate tax rate from 40 to 30 percent and further carry out corporate tax cuts to promote research and development.

The paper also clearly calls for a revision of the Constitution. It seeks to enact a permanent law to enable the government to send Self-Defense Forces abroad at any time by stressing the need to “establish a fundamental law on security as well as a general law on international cooperation for peace.”

   Keidanren has published such a list annually with the aim of using it to evaluate the performances of the Liberal Democratic and Democratic parties.
- Akahata, December 12, 2007