TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister ISHIBA Shigeru said Monday it is necessary to raise the minimum annual taxable income from 1.03 million yen to 1.78 million yen as agreed on by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, its coalition partner, Komeito, and the opposition Democratic Party for the People.

“The three parties have made the agreement because it is necessary,” Ishiba said in response to DPFP lawmaker ISOZAKI Tetsuji’s question at a House of Councillors Budget Committee meeting.

Finance Minister KATO Katsunobu told Isozaki that raising the threshold should have “cyclical, ripple effects on consumption, corporate earnings and employment.”

Asked by Japanese Communist Party member DAIMON Mikishi to explain why Ishiba decided to refrain from financial income tax hikes, the prime minister said he took into account both aspects of ensuring fairness in taxation and facilitating investment.

Kato turned down Daimon’s request for a consumption tax cut, stressing that the broad-based tax is “an important funding source to support a social security system for all generations.”

Meanwhile, the LDP and leading opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan agreed the same day to put the government’s fiscal 2024 supplementary budget bill to a vote in the committee on Tuesday. The extra budget is expected to gain the upper legislative chamber’s approval for enactment at its plenary meeting later.

JIJI Press