Japan to Prioritize Wage Hike over Financial Income Tax

Tokyo, Oct. 11 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government will prioritize raising wages over strengthening financial income tax for the time being, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Monday. On Sunday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who took office Oct. 4, said that he has no plans to reinforce financial income tax at the moment. "Based on the prime minister's thinking, we'll first make efforts to beef up tax measures to increase wages and enhance steps to aid subcontractors," Matsuno told a news conference. Matsuno indicated that the government has yet to decide whether to include in its fiscal 2022 tax system reform debates a review of financial income taxation and sources of funds for Kishida's distribution policy. Asked if a recent plunge in Japanese stock prices led to the postponement of a possible financial income tax hike, the top government spokesman said, "Stock prices are determined by the market depending on various factors, such as the economic situation and corporate activities, so we refrain from commenting (on this)." During his campaign for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election last month, Kishida indicated a plan to increase taxes on financial incomes, among other things. END