CDP to Pledge 1-Yr Zero Pct Consumption Tax for Foods

   Tokyo, April 25 (Jiji Press)--The leading opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan adopted Friday a proposal to cut the consumption tax rate on food items to zero pct for a year, as part of its campaign pledges for this summer's House of Councillors election.
   Under the proposal, the tax rate cut would be a temporary measure until the introduction of a refundable tax credit program, and would be extendable just once. The CDP decided on the pledge for the election of the upper chamber of the Diet, Japan's parliament, at an extraordinary executive board meeting.
   CDP chief Yoshihiko Noda told a press conference that although refundable tax credits, which the CDP advocated in the election for the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, last year, can "most effectively counter the regressive nature of the consumption tax," a system design would take time.
   Thus temporarily eliminating the food consumption tax before the introduction of a refundable tax credit system is necessary to help consumers in the country cope with rising prices and the adverse effects of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff campaign, Noda pointed out.
   When it came to how to fund the tax relief, the CDP leader said he asked party policy chief Kazuhiko Shigetoku to secure sound financial resources. "We will not rely on deficit-covering bonds so as not to burden future generations," he noted.

(2025/04/25-19:52)

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