Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced a plan at an extraordinary meeting of Liberal Democratic Party executives Thursday to lower the consumption tax rate on food and beverages to 1% for a two-year period starting next April.
The prime minister said that unlike previous systems that were criticized for providing uniform cash payments, the new plan takes a comprehensive view of the interplay between taxes, social insurance contributions and cash benefits to deliver support based on income and other factors.
“We believe this system will alleviate the burden on low- and middle-income working-age individuals, thereby increasing their take-home pay, while also mitigating work disincentives — such as those caused by annual income thresholds — thereby addressing the urgent need to encourage workforce participation,” Takaichi said Thursday evening.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.