Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi with Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People, on Dec. 18 after reaching an agreement to raise the income tax threshold (Takeshi Iwashita)

Three-quarters of respondents to a weekend nationwide survey welcomed the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s agreement to raise the income tax threshold with the opposition Democratic Party for the People.

Thirteen percent said the accord on Dec. 18 to increase the minimum annual taxable income to 1.78 million yen ($11,000) starting next year was “not good,” according to the telephone survey conducted on Dec. 20-21 by The Asahi Shimbun.

To raise the threshold, the amount of income tax deductions will be expanded, resulting in a tax cut. However, the source of funding to make up for the loss in tax revenues, around 600 billion yen to 700 billion yen per year, has not been specified.

When asked in a four-option format how much they are worried about worsening national finances, 71 percent said they are concerned, combining the responses “very” (24 percent) and “somewhat” (47 percent) concerned.

Among those who said raising the threshold was “not good,” 79 percent said they are concerned. Thirty-six percent chose “very” concerned, a higher proportion than in the overall sample.

Even among those who said the move to increase the disposable income was “good,” 69 percent expressed concerns about fiscal deterioration.

Respondents were asked about Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) forming a coalition government with the LDP in October after Komeito decided to leave the ruling bloc.

Fifty-six percent said the move was “good,” while 28 percent said it was “not good.”

Among those who approve of the Cabinet, 70 percent responded “good,” as did 79 percent of LDP supporters.

More than half of Nippon Ishin supporters also said the move was “good.”

A bill submitted by the LDP and Nippon Ishin to reduce the number of Lower House seats by 10 percent was not deliberated during the extraordinary Diet session that ended Dec. 17.

The two ruling parties aim to enact the bill during the ordinary Diet session, which will be convened in January.

Seventy-three percent of survey respondents supported passing the bill during the session, while 16 percent opposed it.

After announcing the agreement on the income tax threshold with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Dec. 18, DPP leader Yuichiro Tamaki said his party’s cooperation with the LDP will “enter a new phase.”

In the survey, 47 percent said the DPP “should not join” the coalition government, compared to the 33 percent who responded “should join.”

Just under half of DPP supporters said the party “should join.”

LDP supporters were divided, with 45 percent favoring joining and 42 percent opposed.

The survey was conducted using the random digit dialing method, in which interviewers called computer-generated numbers for landlines and cellphones.

The callers obtained a total of 1,195 valid responses.

For landlines, 470 people were interviewed from 965 households confirmed to have eligible voters, for a response rate of 49 percent.

The response rate for cellphones was 39 percent, with 725 people responding from 1,837 numbers that connected to eligible voters.

Adjustments were made to reflect the demographic composition by gender, age group and region based on internal affairs ministry data.

(This article was written by Nozomi Matsui and Kazuaki Isoda.)

Related News