Number of people eligible for income-linked benefits: ``approximately 20 million people'' Prime Minister mentions as ``reference''

At the House of Representatives Budget Committee on the 14th, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi mentioned the number of ``20 million people'' eligible for income-linked benefits (subsidy for reducing the burden on workers), which are intended to be introduced next fiscal year in conjunction with the consumption tax cut on food items. He also said that the data was applied to Japan from similar systems overseas and was "for reference only." He answered a question from Ken Tanaka of the Democratic Party of the People.

The new support system is a system that provides cash payments based on income to working middle- and low-income earners who have a heavy burden of taxes and social insurance premiums. In 2027 and 2028, when the food consumption tax reduction will be implemented, the plan is to implement the tax reduction on a scale of 600 billion yen (equivalent to the 1% consumption tax rate on food products) per year, and to expand the scale and introduce it in earnest in 2029, when the tax reduction ends. The government has submitted a related bill to the current Diet session, but it has not specified who will receive the benefits and how much. Opposition parties criticize the proposal, calling it a ``prerequisite for deliberating the bill.''

The prime minister said that under similar systems in the United States, Britain, and France, "it is estimated that around 30% (of employed people) would be eligible for benefits," and explained, "There are approximately 60 million people currently employed in Japan. Around 20 million people account for that 30%."

The upper limit of annual income eligible for payment...