KYODO NEWS


 

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is considering including a proposal to temporarily cut the consumption tax on food to zero percent, from the current 8 percent, in her ruling party's campaign pledges for a House of Representatives election she is expected to call soon, government and party sources said Saturday.

A temporary suspension of consumption tax on food in the future has been part of the coalition agreement between Takaichi's Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party.

A senior official from the ruling camp said the contents of the agreement will be a focal point of the upcoming election.

JIP co-leader Fumitake Fujita told reporters on Saturday in Tokyo, "Our party has consistently called for cutting the consumption tax on food to zero percent for a two-year period, and we will continue to emphasize it."

If victorious in a lower house contest expected in early February at the earliest, the ruling party is mulling proposing a tax reform bill that includes the consumption tax-cut plan at the extraordinary Diet session to be convened after the election.

The tax cut could be implemented as early as January 2027, the sources said.
Meanwhile, the Centrist Reform Alliance, a new party formed by the largest opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito for their lower house members, has already emphasized its intention to tackle inflation by making a reduction of the consumption tax on food to zero percent a central pillar of its platform.

Jun Azumi, secretary general of the CDPJ, has criticized the prime minister's lower house dissolution plan, likely to be announced next week, calling it "unreasonable" and a "sneak attack."

"We want to propose bold tax cuts that put ordinary citizens first," Azumi said at his party's meeting in Sendai.

Komeito head Tetsuo Saito told reporters the same day in Tokyo, "We will lay out concrete solutions for people struggling with rising prices."
Saturday marked the first weekend since the prime minister expressed her intention to dissolve the lower house early.