politics

Abe set to announce sales tax hike with Y5 tril stimulus package

27 Comments

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27 Comments
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X-Day for Abenomics, welcome invitation to LDP's New PM !

1 ( +3 / -2 )

It's not a matter of if this should happen, but when.

I'm glad Mr Abe has the stones to do it.

-5 ( +4 / -9 )

"A nation trying to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle."

Winston Churchill

17 ( +18 / -1 )

Great Bertie, and Marcelito, you're right. On top of that Japan's "aging" population are on fixed income so you're not going to see any spending there. The young are unemployed, or part timers and won't have the disposable income that the rich will have, and all of us in the middle are too busy paying education, car, and home loans so where is all this "stimulus" going to come from? Great Abe, get ready for another tummy ache.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Japan has twenty-five percent of the population that is already over 65, and the welfare is the biggest and fastest growing category of spending. Japan need to adjust the full retirement age to 70.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

How can any sane govenment equate "CUTTING Tokyo’s massive national debt" with SPENDING 5trillion yen on what essentially will be more white elephant construction projects???????

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Solely rising tax revenues will not move the needle! Just like when we get a raise, if our expenses goes up just as much there is no benefit brought by the extra money. Not to mention that this will likely curb spending and an economic growth stall might be a bad side effect.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

If nonessential and non-urgent public work projects are carried out without reducing government bond issuance, this will run counter to fiscal consolidation. Why step on the brakes when the economy is picking up?

3 ( +3 / -0 )

If government over-spending created the debt load, how will more tax and spending help?

4 ( +5 / -1 )

That must be a weight off the mind of those looking to be the next PM. 6-12 months?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

a great way to derail any economic growth is to raise the sales tax.. but now the added stimuls is going to drive prices up ever further thus increasing the gov't take along the way.

genious

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

He is probably taking advice from his economic minister (forget his name). Im guessing their reasoning is that if the world starts to see Japan is doing something about its debt problem, then investors will come and the exchange rate improve even more. Perhaps Abe is looking more to the outside than inside now. It seems to be the only remedy to fix Japan.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Japan has twenty-five percent of the population that is already over 65, and the welfare is the biggest and fastest growing category of spending. Japan need to adjust the full retirement age to 70.

So we get more old people sitting around all day and picking up the big checks?

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

How about scrapping the Y5 trillion porkulus, er, stimulus package and cutting the tax to the original 3% to stimulate the economy? No good?

2 ( +4 / -2 )

A huge boost to the economy until April as people buy anything they can before the rate rises. After April, total oblivion. Abe doesn't care he's a multi -billionaire as are all the useless pathetic politicians.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

So, corporations get tax cuts and low income earners get a 'stimulus package'. This leaves the other 80% of the population much worse off and footing the bill to support both the poor and the rich. I don't mind supporting the poor, but I am not happy about filling corporate coffers so they can buy a new Lexus limo.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Sayonara Abe-san.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

They announced a 1% reduction in pensions this morning. The LDP really don't give a stuff about ordinary people.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

So to get this straight, he wants to raise the taxes to get another 8 trillion yen and then spend another 5 trillion yen on stimulus which will leave 3 trillion yen for discretionary spending and nothing to pay down the debt. Just another tax and spend strategy that has never worked in any part of the world.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

It's really not that complicated.

Your income after taxes is 100,000 yen a month.

Rent on your apartment is 50,000, transport to and from work is 10,000 and if you're careful, you can just about scrape by with 2,000 yen a day for food, etc.

But wait.

Food, etc., at 2,000 yen a day comes to 60,000 yen a month.

So you're using 120,000 a month, but your income is 100,000.

What are you going to do?

Get a bank loan?

Redecorate the sitting room?

Buy a new TV?

Fit a security system so that no burglars can come in?

The ONLY thing you can do. The ONLY option you have. The ONLY solution is . . .

To make more money.

Or, perhaps you might do the equivalent of raising taxes and charge yourself 10 yen each time you use the bathroom.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

This is Japan. They wont care much about a sales tax increase. Theyll do whatever it takes out of pride. No care in the world about wasteful spending or corruption and thuggery. They`ll just pay more and get on with their day.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Everyone says that under Abenomics the economy may look better but it has not filtered down to the ordinary person's pocket, and until that happens true prosperity will not be apparent.

So now taxes on us are to be raised when times are still hard?

Not putting the cart before the horse?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@ nandakandamanda

I am an ordinary person and Abenomics is doing great for me.You have to get yourself to a place where you can benefit from it. Could be a lot of hard work and struggle at first but it will pay off in the end and the rewards will make it all worth while.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

I must sound like a hard taskmaster, but I can't feel sympathy for people who have enough free time to post about how hard life is on Japan Today within minutes of this tax rise story breaking.

The government didn't decide to raise the tax to make Japan prosperous, it raised the tax because Japan has huge amounts of debt and they NEED to start to get the house in order, before the market forces them to (which would be a much worse outcome for the lower income people than anything else.)

No argument that govt. needs to cut wasteful spending. But even with wasteful spending cut, Japan would still be well in the hole. Look at the numbers. There is no Disney World solution to this problem.

Pro-growth policy such as reducing corporate tax makes sense. Japanese corporate tax rates are uncompetitive as they are.

I don't agree with the whole stimulus package to offset the impact of the tax increase though. Better to just take the medicine and get on with it.

Abe needs to get busy with his 3rd arrow. Deregulation and reform are the key to his ultimate success.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Japan has no hope in hell of paying its debts;too many roads to nowhere.....

1 ( +1 / -0 )

falseflagsteve, I am just reporting what what Japanese shopkeepers and business people around me have been saying. You sounds as though you are further up the food chain.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

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