Motorists flock to service stations to buy cheaper gasoline

Tuesday 01st April, 11:10 AM JST

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14 Comments

greenteaonsens at 09:34 AM JST - 1st April

"since they were introduced as a provisional measure in 1974"

a "provisional" measure that lasted 34 years...hmmmmmm, just goes to show that once governments and bureaucracies get taxes or laws on the statute books, they rarely come off even if they were supposed to be "temporary".

What a crock of....t
Desiderata1967 at 10:29 AM JST - 1st April

Well...been and out and about and haven't seen any price changes yet. But then again, do you honestly expect these money grabbing people to drop the prices when they can now handsomely profit from it?
Desiderata1967 at 10:30 AM JST - 1st April

As for some gasoline stations selling at a loss...???...As greenteaonsens says "What a crock of ...t!" When was the last time you saw a gas station owner living poor?
gogogo at 11:37 AM JST - 1st April

provisional measure in 1974

So don't re-add it. It's 2008.
outofmydepth at 01:26 PM JST - 1st April

the prices didnt go down in my little corner of japan either. i am waiting til tomorrow - thats what most people do here - see what everyone else is doing. the little lamp on my gas gauge is on........
Wottock_Hunt at 01:29 PM JST - 1st April

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda apologized for failing to extend the tax rates beyond their March expiration and said it is his ‘‘responsibility to minimize the confusion that could occur’’ in local economies and public lives.

Who's confused about a tax cut?
Hikozaemon at 01:40 PM JST - 1st April

Oh my god, help me! I'm so confused!!! Why is gasoline cheaper?!! This is anarchy!!!

And now the LDP gets to kick off its 2009 election campaign by fighting tooth and nail to put it's construction bribe/kickback piggybank tax back.

Peace
Altria at 01:49 PM JST - 1st April

Excellent work, DJP.

The government is gonna have a right battle on their hands trying reinstate the tax once people have had a taste of delicious sweet, light crude.
blue_monday at 02:27 PM JST - 1st April

The price will not go down until the gasoline that the stations have bought at the reduced rates arrives at the pumps. They have already paid the tax themselves on the gasoline currently being sold.

As for the shortfall in taxes, Mr Fukuda might look at where it is being spent, I'm sure a lot of money could be saved by preventing the corrupton the transport ministry engaged in so blatantly. The local governments will have to cut back on the numerous perks for city employees, the road "repairs" they engage in just to eat up budget at the end of the fiscal year, the endless number of steel and concrete barriers scattered around public parks, roads and pathways supposedly making places safer, and those annoying public tannoys blasting out messages at 5PM.

The plus side here is that the tax payer will have more disposable income, people might start to spend a little more, even take day trips out to the countryside, which needs the income. They might have unintentionally given the economy the boost it needs to restore consumer confidence.

It's like a Lotus sports car, you don't need to make the engine bigger, just make the body lighter.
eastokyo at 03:08 PM JST - 1st April

blue monday you should read this part of the article again. "Consumers will find that some stations will immediately cut their retail prices of gasoline while others have decided to keep their prices unchanged until they use up their current inventories. But given the intense competition among gas stations, some may be forced to start selling gasoline at a loss..."

As for having more disposable income, the increase in price on a whole range of goods and services from today will offset a fair chunk of any savings in less tax paid on fuel. Milk, soy sauce, cooking oils, beer (my goodness) are going up, not to mention electricity and gas bills. So disposable income won't change that much, and we are all doomed.
Altria at 03:16 PM JST - 1st April

Yeah, prices are going up, but cheaper gas for manufacturers might help ease a bit of that strain as well.
NagoyaOya at 04:28 PM JST - 1st April

As eastokyo says, there is a wide range of prices increases going into effect today, things that will hit our wallets right away. So how come JT doesn't bother mentioning this? Didn't Kyodo include it in their feed?
namabiru4me at 10:01 PM JST - 1st April

prices are down at the stand near me...from around 148 to 128. There was a line when I was returning from work. Can not believe the J-Gov cannot even pass a resolution to keep things as is until something different is decided. Wouldn't it be prudent to have a clause in the original measure that renews automatically until decided to kill it? Oh well, guess I will get the tank filled tomorrow.
timorborder at 09:57 AM JST - 2nd April

Wedge politics at is best. Fukuda would be damned if he keeps the tax (hitting the consumer in the hip pocket) and damned if he doesn't (a lack of leadership). Wonderful stuff