DPFP Axes Talks with Ruling Bloc on Annual Income Barrier

   Tokyo, Dec. 17 (Jiji Press)--Japan's opposition Democratic Party for the People broke off talks Tuesday with the ruling coalition over raising the nontaxable income ceiling from the current 1.03 million yen, called the "annual income barrier."
   Motohisa Furukawa, the DPFP's tax research commission chief, walked away from the day's meeting with his counterparts from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, Komeito, putting an end to the sixth three-way talks, initially scheduled to last an hour, in roughly 10 minutes.
   "We can't have discussions any longer," a senior DPFP commission member told reporters. "It's over."
   The ruling bloc proposed on Friday to expand income reductions to raise the tax-free threshold to 1.23 million yen starting fiscal 2025, which begins in April, against the DPFP-demanded 1.78 million yen.
   Emerging from the meeting, LDP tax chief Yoichi Miyazawa told reporters that he will continue to "explore the possibility of compromise by both sides" before the ruling coalition adopts--as early as Friday--its tax reform package for the next fiscal year.

(2024/12/17-21:18)

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