Japan Press Weekly

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2013 October 23 - 29 [ECONOMY]

Carpenters don’t want consumption tax hike, too

Building labor costs have already gone down as opposed to rising material prices. Customers always try to beat down construction costs. -- Carpenters and builders will no doubt face even more difficulties if the consumption tax rate is raised to 8% in April.

Sato Nobukatsu, 53, owns a small building company in Kawaguchi City in Saitama Prefecture. Quoted in Akahata dated October 25, Sato said he opposes an increase in the consumption tax rate. The full text of his interview is as follows:

The building industry has been busy because of the increase in homebuilding demand ahead of the planned consumption tax hike in April. All my peers say they are very busy but are making no money.

It is because we do not have enough construction workers to meet the present demand. In addition to declining labor costs, soaring costs for materials such as lumber and cement are affecting our survivability as well. I can see that materials are getting scarce and I’m very concerned about that.

In the midst of such a situation, we are forced to get the price down in order to respond to customers’ demands for cheaper houses regardless of home renovation or new construction. They often want us to discount the consumption tax as well.

I realize they have no choice because their incomes have decreased. The government claims that the country’s economy is recovering but I don’t feel it at all.

For small business owners like myself, it’s very hard to pay the consumption tax. We cannot easily get loans so we have to use our savings and cut workers’ wages. We’ve been experiencing extremely severe conditions.

In order to achieve a true economic recovery, it is necessary for the government to cancel the planned increase in the consumption tax rate and create a system in which tax revenues are used to ensure the survival of small business owners and the very existence of consumers.