THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
October 19, 2023 at 15:57 JST
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, heads to his office on Oct. 19. (Koichi Ueda)
The word coming out of Tokyo’s Nagatacho, the heartland of Japanese politics, is that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is planning a “bold” measure to help the public ride out soaring prices for foodstuffs and other commodities.
And that, according to some sources, could include a cut in income tax.
With support ratings for his Cabinet hitting all-time lows and a by-election scheduled for Oct. 22, Kishida wanted to demonstrate to voters he was aware of the financial hardships they are facing and is planning to do something about it.
Kishida is to deliver a policy speech at the start of the extraordinary Diet session to convene on Oct. 23 that sources said would mention his plans for making use of an expected increase in tax revenues.
But the speech will come too late to have any impact on the Lower House by-election in Nagasaki Prefecture as well as one for a seat in the Upper House that represents the combined district of Tokushima and Kochi prefectures. Voting in those two by-elections takes place on Oct. 22.
Some within even the ruling coalition were miffed by Kishida’s apparent move to hog the spotlight in announcing a possible income tax cut.
Representatives of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and junior coalition partner Komeito presented their economic policy proposals to Kishida on Oct. 17. But those close to the prime minister spread the word that there should be no mention of an income tax cut in their proposals, according to party sources.
Officials in the LDP Research Commission on the Tax System said a cash handout, not a tax cut, would be more effective as an economic measure. They reasoned that many people would spend the handouts, putting more money back into the economy, while others would just as likely stick the money in their savings account as backup for that elusive rainy day.
Talk of a tax cut comes as the Kishida administration grapples with the task of finding funds by the year-end to pay for a huge five-year defense spending package announced late in 2022, along with a package of measures announced earlier this year to stem the falling birthrate.
(This article was written by Tamiyuki Kihara and Naoki Matsuyama.)
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