Japan Press Weekly

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2013 September 11 - 17 [GREAT EAST JAPAN DISASTER]

Small business owners still suffering from 2011 disaster demand halt to sales tax hike

Representatives of anti-tax increase networks consisting of self-employed persons in the areas stricken by the 2011 disaster urged the national government on September 10 to cancel the sales tax increase scheduled for April next year.

The government plans to raise the consumption tax rate from the current 5% to 8% in April 2014. Prime Minister Abe Shinzo is set to make a final decision as early as October 1 as to whether to raise the tax rate as planned.

That day, delegates of the networks in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures visited the Cabinet Office and the Finance Ministry, submitting to them petitions demanding a halt to the planned consumption tax hike, which were signed by about 600 local organizations of independent business owners.

A petitioner from Iwate said, “Many people across all age groups are voicing opposition to the tax increase. While our incomes remain at low levels, social insurance premiums and commodity prices are going up and social services are being reduced. How can we survive?”

Another participant from Miyagi said, “In Ishinomaki and Kesennuma cities, nearly half the members of the local Democratic Commerce and Industry Organizations have been suffering damage from the disaster. Rebuilding the homes of the victims is still only halfway accomplished. In such circumstances, how can you go ahead and raise the tax rate?”

The delegates then requested the parliamentarians elected from the three prefectures to support the petition. Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Representatives Takahashi Chizuko encouraged them, saying, “It is wrong for the prime minister to make a decision after just hearing the opinions of government-selected experts, in disregard of the Diet.”