Kishida says gov't won't hike taxes to boost defense budget

Kishida says gov't won't hike taxes to boost defense budget

Really? JGovt usually just love rising tax, make Japan in more debt while give out lot meaningless subsidies, making another new record budget from year to year

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2022/12/976016fe530e-japans-defense-budget-hits-record-68-tril-yen-in-policy-shift.html

He can pull the budget out of a hat for all I care. Just don't raise our taxes, or some of us will start being creative.

The money is going to come out of more QE obviously. Just a hidden tax that everyone but specifically the poor will pay with rising prices of basic commodities.

Kishida says he won't raise taxes and he won't.

Not until after the election.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday that his government will not hike taxes to boost Japan's defense budget in the next fiscal year from April, given the hardships people currently face as the result of higher prices without adequate wage growth.

Using the people's "hardships" as an excuse to raise spending not just for defense, but to fork out for lowering the income taxes, giving a pittance of ￥40,000 a YEAR, maybe a one time handout of ￥70,000 and none involving any tax increases.

Kishida is one hell of a magician if he can pull this one off! I am sure even Simon would give him a "Golden Buzzer" for his performance!

Right, he's just going to keep the presses going until they run out of either ink or paper!

Kishida should have a sign on his desk that reads "The buck does not stop here".

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday that his government will not hike taxes to boost Japan's defense budget in the next fiscal year from April

No, but you’ll do it in some other back-handed, secretive way, won’t you?

tax hikes will be implemented in fiscal 2024 or later as his government aims to almost double Japan's annual defense spending

Japan tax is coming, and the weapon purchases are violating the constitution.

Japan's tax income reached 71.14 trillion yen for fiscal 2022 through March 2023, hitting a record high for the third consecutive year.

Record high tax revenues, it sounds like good news.

The plan will be part of a new economic stimulus package,

With tax revenues hitting record highs, by what logic would yet another “economic stimulus package” be justified?

Does it indicate that actually the policy makers think tax revenues hit a record high mostly because the value of the yen has been cut in half, and not because the economy is doing well?

They will hike taxes for other reasons.

What a nightmare for the MOF

Of course not, they will just raise fees and cut benefits instead.

Reminds me of when the county wants more money in Georgia. They don't raise property taxes, they just re-appraise your property for a lot more and send you a larger bill. My brother's house magically went up $75,000 in value in one year.

This guy is clueless

Saying whatever keeps him from losing an election. After winning again everything will be regrettable and implemented anyway.

Name a country two tax cycles out that can profess to double the nation's defense budget without specifying a funding source. lol

his government aims to almost double Japan's annual defense spending

Is that double in JPY or USD? In any case, defense spending will drive down the yen, erasing the savings of the elderly population, more that any "tax hike" could possibly do.

Raise the taxes of the super rich, the corporations and billionaires. I am sure they can afford it, especially if it is for the defence budget, I mean, they want to be safe in their palacial palaces don't they?

It would be sufficient to completely stop welfare benefits provided to foreigners, which the Supreme Court has already ruled unconstitutional.

Unnecessary spending is just a waste of people's tax money, so if they do it now, their support rating will increase.

They won't hike taxes but they will still do as their master orders and buy US weapons.

Agent_NeoToday  02:23 pm JST

It would be sufficient to completely stop welfare benefits provided to foreigners,

Oh? Exactly how much money do you think that would save? In that case foreigners who work full-time for Japanese companies shouldn't be required to pay as much in shakai-hoken as Japanese employees.

...which the Supreme Court has already ruled unconstitutional.

There's no practical or ethical justification for that, especially not in the case of foreign residents who have actually paid more in tax and unemployment insurance. I guess it sounds good to right-wing xenophobes though.

The amount of welfare assistance for foreigners in Japan exceeds 1 trillion yen a year, and eliminating this would reduce wasteful tax expenditures and increase defense spending.

It is strange that foreigners are receiving welfare benefits that are supposed to be given to Japanese people in poverty. This can be said to be a systemic flaw.

Agent_NeoToday  12:40 am JST

The amount of welfare assistance for foreigners in Japan exceeds 1 trillion yen a year, and eliminating this would reduce wasteful tax expenditures and increase defense spending.

Why just single out welfare assistance for foreigners? Shouldn't efforts be made to eliminate wasteful spending across the board? For instance, how much do you think first class air travel and shinkansen green car seats for Diet Members costs the taxpayer? How about the pension payments fraudulently claimed by the children of people who have died?

It is strange that foreigners are receiving welfare benefits that are supposed to be given to Japanese people in poverty.

Why's it strange, if those foreigners are also taxpayers? Well, if they're not entitled to the public services they've been paying for, they should have the same rights as other visitors to the country, to show their passports when they buy things in shops and be exempted from paying consumption tax.

It is right for Japan to reduce unnecessary spending and reduce the burden on its people while increasing necessary budgets such as defense spending.

However, what is fundamentally wrong is that welfare is a right given only to Japanese citizens, and the Supreme Court has also ruled that it is against the law to provide welfare benefits to foreigners.

It is normal under Japanese law for foreigners who use Japan's public transportation and welfare systems to pay taxes to Japan. We should not make the mistake of thinking that we have the same rights as Japanese people.

Airfare and salaries for members of Congress are recognized as a right.

The only issue is the amount and rank.

For example, it's like being a foreigner in the United States and asking for food stamps. (Aside from the seven states that also provide benefits to foreigners)

At first, Prime Minister Kishida intended to finance the defense budget through tax increases.

However, due to numerous elections and opposition, the tax increase has been shelved.

It is true that there are various ways to save money, but the first thing that must be done is illegal welfare payments to foreigners, which is unconstitutional.

It is extremely important to reduce the waste of more than 10 billion dollars of Japanese tax money being wasted every year on welfare expenses for foreigners.

Is there anything else where more money is being wasted?

Will the travel costs of members of Congress exceed $10 billion a year?

I don't think Japan needs foreigners who can't support themselves and eat up Japanese people's taxes. It's the ultimate waste.

Agent_NeoToday  01:13 pm JST

It is right for Japan to reduce unnecessary spending and reduce the burden on its people while increasing necessary budgets such as ...

Okay...

...defense spending.

That one's debateable. If it were really so essential Kishida would just bite the bullet and raise taxes for it.

However, what is fundamentally wrong is that welfare is a right given only to Japanese citizens, and the Supreme Court has also ruled that it is against the law to provide welfare benefits to foreigners.

That would make a lot more sense if you wrote "so" instead of "and." Otherwise it sounds like you're saying both of those things are wrong.

It is normal under Japanese law for foreigners who use Japan's public transportation and welfare systems to pay taxes to Japan. We should not make the mistake of thinking that we have the same rights as Japanese people.

Erm, everyone pays bus, train or air fares for public transportation, and it's "normal" for foreigners to pay taxes for welfare systems they're not actually entitled to? Does that mean full-time foreign employees who are obliged to pay unemployment insurance shouldn't receive any unemployment benefits if they lose their jobs?

Agent_NeoToday  01:13 pm JST

Airfare and salaries for members of Congress are recognized as a right.

Well yes, obviously. But free first class air travel and shinkansen green car seats? What gives them any special entitlement to those? Not to mention higher salaries than US Congress members or British MPs on top of ¥1 million monthly allowance for expenses that they don't need to show receipts for?

Agent_NeoToday  01:20 pm JST

Is there anything else where more money is being wasted?

Will the travel costs of members of Congress exceed $10 billion a year?

There are more than 700 of them continually going to and from their constituencies all over Japan, and in senior politicians' cases, on various overseas trips. What do you think? They get obscenely high basic salaries and ¥1 million a month for sundry expenses on top of that.

I don't think Japan needs foreigners who can't support themselves and eat up Japanese people's taxes.

But Japan does need Japanese citizens who can't support themselves and eat up taxes?

I don't think there is any particular need for discussion about increasing defense spending.

Sea lane defense is essential for Japan's economic activities, and military power is unfortunately necessary to protect the country and its people.

In particular, Japan is surrounded by countries such as China, Russia, North Korea, and South Korea, which are communist countries and are hostile to Japan.

Now, you don't seem to understand the welfare system that I am saying should not be provided to foreigners.

To give you a simple example sentence,

"I am on welfare because I am too ill to work." Do you understand that?

Welfare assistance is a benefit provided by the government to guarantee a minimum standard of living for Japanese nationals who are unable to work due to illness, injury, family circumstances, etc. This is currently being paid to foreigners. As I have said many times before, the amount exceeds 10 billion dollars a year. The recipients are mainly Koreans and Chinese.

As soon as they enter Japan, they go to the government office to apply.

Do you understand that this is different from social security expenses?

In Japan, even foreigners can receive unemployment insurance if they become unemployed, and I'm not saying they should cut back on that.

Also, Japan's roads are built with the taxes of the people. All social infrastructure such as electricity, gas, and water is built with tax dollars. To put it in an extreme way, foreigners incur taxes just by walking on the street.

If you don't like that, you have no choice but to choose not to come to Japan.

When they say they aren't going to do it after dithering on the topic for months, it means we are only a few weeks away from an announcement that not only will they do it, but that since they won the last election it is the mandate of the people to do so. Of course, they will "seek cooperation and understanding".

Agent_NeoToday  02:56 pm JST

Welfare assistance is a benefit provided by the government to guarantee a minimum standard of living for Japanese nationals who are unable to work due to illness, injury, family circumstances, etc. This is currently being paid to foreigners. As I have said many times before, the amount exceeds 10 billion dollars a year.

If they have been paying taxes I don't see a problem with it.

The recipients are mainly Koreans and Chinese.

Would these be people who have lived in Japan all their lives, and are indistinguishable from Japanese people except for what it says in their passports?

As soon as they enter Japan, they go to the government office to apply.

It seems not, but can you cite any examples of that actually happening? I can't believe that welfare payments for those particular people accounts for more than $10 billion of expenditure.

Also, Japan's roads are built with the taxes of the people. All social infrastructure such as electricity, gas, and water is built with tax dollars. To put it in an extreme way, foreigners incur taxes just by walking on the street.

If you don't like that, you have no choice but to choose not to come to Japan.

I don't much like the idea that foreign residents are expected to pay the same amount in taxes as Japanese citizens but aren't entitled to receive all the same services and benefits in return. I would probably find things in every country I didn't much like, but I have to live somewhere.

In order to secure defense spending without raising taxes, we must cut wasteful tax dollars, which is certainly extremely difficult. At the very least, it would be faster to eliminate the unconstitutional welfare benefits than to cut the traveling expenses of members of the Diet, which they are entitled to.

Japanese politicians are given taxes as their salaries by the government. I don't think it's a waste at all. We cannot survive on donations alone like in America.

By the way, don't you mistakenly think that if you pay taxes even if you are a foreign national, you will have the same rights as a Japanese citizen? If there were a situation in which rights would arise, it might be possible from the perspective of reciprocity between countries, such as China and South Korea providing welfare to Japanese people. However, that is not possible.

However, welfare is basically a right that only Japanese people have, and I have never heard of a country where foreigners can receive welfare just because they pay taxes. Please let me know if you have any. I'm moving.

It is unconstitutional for permanent resident foreigners to apply for welfare ↓

https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASDG18H11_Y4A710C1CR8000/

Chinese group application↓

https://www.city.osaka.lg.jp/fukushi/page/0000086531.html

47,058 foreign households eligible for public welfare (two-thirds are Korean households)

The amount you receive will vary depending on the number of people in your household, but the ''minimum'' is about $2,000 a month. ↓

https://www.sankei.com/article/20180503-6XU5F6YLGVPTLDVS6EUOAYYMTY/

This is a Japanese site, so please translate it before reading.

Agent_Neo

The amount you receive will vary depending on the number of people in your household, but the ''minimum'' is about $2,000 a month. 

There is no mention in your linked article about $2,000. I think that is a mistake and the levels are lower than ¥300,000. Much lower.

Many of the Chinese and Koreans are people born in Japan.

Agent_NeoToday  05:14 pm JST

In order to secure defense spending without raising taxes, we must cut wasteful tax dollars, which is certainly extremely difficult. At the very least, it would be faster to eliminate the unconstitutional welfare benefits than to cut the traveling expenses of members of the Diet, which they are entitled to.

Who decided they were entitled to receive these benefits?

Japanese politicians are given taxes as their salaries by the government. I don't think it's a waste at all. We cannot survive on donations alone like in America.

US politicians receive government salaries as well, albeit about $18,000 less than Japanese Diet members. Why do you think otherwise?

By the way, don't you mistakenly think...

No. I don't.

As for these links, the articles refer mainly to workers from South America who lost their jobs after the 2008 financial crisis and to just one instance of a group of Chinese applying for welfare when they arrived in Japan. Maybe you would like to imagine wave upon wave of Chinese and Korean grifters all wanting to take advantagge of kind but naive Japanese immigration officials but this does not appear to be what is happening.

There is no basis for it to be less than 3,000 dollars, but if we assume that 2,500 dollars will be paid, it will cost a total of 1,157,000 dollars every month. If it exceeds $1 billion a year and can be used for defense spending every year, it cannot be called a waste of money. Japan has wasted more than half a century of that effort. The cumulative total will exceed $500 billion.

Isn't it natural that politicians' work is political activities, and that the money they spend on these activities is paid as a salary? Please refer to the Diet Act of the Constitution of Japan.

Or do you live in a country where politicians can only be wealthy, unpaid people?

As long as the Japanese people do not say that politicians' salaries are too high, there will be no problem. In fact, I think this is too small for politicians who are actively engaged in political activities.

If you think that foreign nationals born in Japan also have rights as Japanese, you are mistaken. Even if you were born in Japan, if your nationality is not Japanese, you have no rights as a Japanese.

As per the Supreme Court's ruling, even foreigners with permanent resident status have restrictions on receiving welfare benefits in Japan.

Agent_Neo

Today 06:45 pm JST

There is no basis for it to be less than 3,000 dollars, but if we assume that 2,500 dollars will be paid...

I'm not assuming anything. Provide the actual figures.

Households on welfare do not get ¥300,000 per month. There is a limit on the amount of rent paid. About ¥60,000 max.

Agent_Neo

Today 06:45 pm JST

Isn't it natural that politicians' work is political activities, and that the money they spend on these activities is paid as a salary? Please refer to the Diet Act of the Constitution of Japan.

That's what happens in the US as well, although you don't appear to think so. Anyway, of course they're getting paid for political activities - most of them aren't qualified to do anything else and they're not even very good at what they do although they're extremely well paid for it.

The salaries of Japanese politicians is much lower than those in the US.

A couple on welfare will get something like ¥90,000 plus rent.

They are also required to visit Hello Work every week.

The salary of an American lawmaker is $174,000 ¥26 million.

The salary of a Japanese lawmaker is $143,000 ¥21.5 million.

In Adachi Ward, Tokyo, the monthly welfare allowance for a three-person household consisting of a 45-year-old husband, a 45-year-old wife, and a 15-year-old child is $2,332. Please refer to Adachi Ward's homepage, etc.

This benefit is limited to people in poverty, but it can be provided to any Japanese citizen who meets certain criteria.

This is a story in an urban area, but the rent plus 90,000 yen? It's not that small an amount.

Welfare recipients are also given priority in public housing complexes (rent is cheaper).

There are many fraudulent recipients, and to be honest, it would be foolish to work properly.

If there is a politician who says he will reduce the illegal receipt of welfare benefits by foreigners and Japanese people, he will likely gain support in Japan. We must eliminate wasteful tax dollars and spend money on necessary policies such as increasing defense spending.

Agent_Neo

Today 08:19 pm JST

If there is a politician who says he will reduce the illegal receipt of welfare benefits by foreigners and Japanese people, he will likely gain support in Japan.

I think he would get more support if he actually does something that brings about more job opportunities, higher wages and lower living costs. I suppose pretending that the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in society are the biggest problem is just a bit easier though.

wallace

Today 07:38 pm JST

The salaries of Japanese politicians is much lower than those in the US.

It appears that my information is out of date or incorrect.

Agent_neo

please post your figures in yen, not dollars. This is not America. $2,332 would be ¥349,800 which would be greater than the salaries of many working people.

Please post a link for your claim.