Japan Press Weekly

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2022 June 29 - July 5 TOP3 [POLITICS]

44% of workers would enjoy pay hikes with \10-trillion revenues from internal reserve tax

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo appeared on the NHK "Sunday Debate" program aired on July 3 and answered a question from the program MC on how to realize wage increases.

Shii said that the JCP is proposing that a 2% tax be levied for a limited duration of five years on large corporations' internal reserves which have swelled due to the "Abenomics" economic policy. He explained that this temporary tax imposition will amount to an additional ten trillion yen in tax revenues necessary to increase workers' wages.

However, he added that large corporations, if they spend money on pay hikes or decarbonizing green investments, would be exempted from paying the internal reserve tax.

The ten trillion yen would be used to support small- and medium-sized enterprises in order to have them implement a 1,500-yen minimum hourly wage. The hourly wage of 1,500 yen will amount to an after-tax income of 200,000 yen a month working an eight-hour day, five-day work week.

Shii pointed out that the hourly wage of 1,500 yen would benefit 23 million people who currently work at less than 1,500-yen hourly rates, and that 44% of private sector workers, including part-timers, temps, and full-time employees, would receive pay hikes.

He said, "As a result, the Japanese economy would benefit and a positive economic cycle would begin." He added that he will urge Prime Minister Kishida Fumio to adopt the JCP proposal in order to achieve this goal.