Japan Press Weekly

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2008 November 19 - 25 [ECONOMY]

Over 5 million people signed ‘No consumption tax hike’ petition

The number of petition signatures against a consumption tax increase has reached five million in about two and half years since the Liaison Council of Various Circles to End Consumption Tax launched the campaign in April 2007.

As people’s anger hit a peak when Prime Minister Aso stated that the consumption tax would be increased in three years time, support for the signature-collection drive gained impetus.

On November 21, the anti-consumption tax liaison council took to the streets near JR Shinjuku Station in Tokyo and called on passers-by to sign the petition.

A 75-year-old woman, who signed the petition, said, “The government should levy a heavier tax on luxuries, not on daily essentials.”

The liaison council is planning to collect another five million signatures to make more than 10 million signatures in total.

The Japanese Communist Party, a member of the liaison council, sees a consumption tax increase as one of the top issues in the upcoming House of Representatives general election. In its election manifesto, the JCP calls for food items to be exempted from the consumption tax and for the taxes imposed on elderly people revoked.