Consumption tax reduction bill passed by the House of Representatives; Prime Minister Takaichi says ``30% or more'' will receive benefits

The consumption tax reduction bill was passed at a plenary session of the House of Representatives on the afternoon of the 6th with a majority of support from the Liberal Democratic Party, Japan Restoration Party, and others, and was sent to the House of Councilors. Opposition parties opposed the move, criticizing the funding source for the tax cut and the design of the new benefit system as unclear. The government and ruling party aim to enact the bill by the end of the session on December 12th.

Consumption tax cut to be passed by the House of Representatives, Prime Minister Takaichi says, ``30% or more'' will receive benefits

The ruling party hopes to begin deliberating the bill in the House of Councilors as early as the 11th of next week. Since the ruling party does not have a majority in the House of Councilors, it is expected that it will lobby both the Democratic Party for the People and the New Komeito Party for support.

Prior to the plenary session of the House of Representatives, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi answered questions from opposition parties at the House of Representatives Finance and Financial Affairs Committee. The government has announced a policy that ``more than 30%'' of the currently employed population will be eligible for the ``Employee Burden Reduction Support Grant,'' an income-linked benefit for middle- and low-income earners. I answered Mitsunari Okamoto, representative of Komeito.

The government had previously set a ``reference value'' of around 20 million people, or 30%, with an annual income of 1 million to 3.5 million yen. It appears that the aim is to gain the understanding of opposition parties by mentioning the expansion of the recipients of the payment.