Consumption tax hike: a modest first step

Why is the tax increase necessary? - Good question that is more or less ignored/unanswered by the author. The real reason is the amount of money wasted here on pork barrel projects is galling to say the least. Love watching perfectly fine streets ripped up on a yearly basis to make sure a budget is fully utilized to avoid being cut. Multiply that situation by a thousandfold in a myriad of bureaucracies and you have a an obvious reason for a deficit.

it is like the money you borrowed will not be given back.... This tax hike is just to help the rich govt salary man and the officials. The tax system should be improved based on the income. The more tax have to be imposed people in the luxury class. improve the working woman`s conditions better to make more children in the country. Other wise you will see a sharp rise in the suicides in Japan...

It seems that the government still hasn't decided how to do the taxing. I do hope they will drop the consumption tax on food items, or leave it stand at the present 5%. Food is something that everybody needs, and the less tax on it the better.

On, I guess, a selfish note, I do hope they start increasing the social security payments instead of continually cutting them. I, for one, could use a little more money social security-wise.

Japanese especially, are more frugal with their money than most. One thing I have learned after 13 years here - is how to be frugal. This tax hike will make me even more so with less spending. However, I think we'll see an increase in discount and sale offerings from retailers, to make up for the obvious coming losses.

Even in these supposedly fiscally tight days, I find myself being encouraged to waste money every single year to spend up my budget (yes, your taxes at work, I'm a govt-funded researcher). It's not a huge proportion of the total budget but it's still galling. Sometimes we refuse, but it all causes trouble...easier to just buy a new laptop or go on a trip somewhere.

As long as the private sector workers are willing to support the parasites promising to fix their problems with more "services" all will be wonderful! Fixing the debt problem in any economy can only be done by cutting off the spending, an unlikely occurrence with the government dependent on the approval of the bureaucrat class for all they do.

"8% in 2014"

Why was 0% in 1988 OK?

Amazing how in 1988 with no consumption tax, the economy was booming.

Just watch the economy tank even further. I can only agree with other posters: CUT SPENDING!!

So let me get this straight. This guy admits that 80% of this TAX INCREASE (10.8 t yen out of 13.5 t yen) will be spent on EXISTING liabilities?

The remaining 10.8 trillion yen will be taken up simply maintaining the existing level of social welfare services

They are INCREASING taxes to BREAK EVEN? How in the world is this a "good first step"???

Not to mention the fact that proposed tax revenues are always OVERESTIMATED, and proposed expenditures are always UNDERESTIMATED.

Would it absolutely KILL these clowns to REDUCE spending by 10%? Just 10%?

Do they REALLY need to build all those roads that nobody drives on, replace traffic lights every three years, and have all those people working in the post office?