politics

Gov't likely to seek extra spending to cushion sales tax hikes

7 Comments

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When will the government learn that you can't get blood from a rock!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

I can't remember any year in which the government haven't had a supplementary budget. They are utterly incapable of controlling spending.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

After glancing at the headline, my impression was that they were going to increase taxes on zabuton.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Other than unfounded optimism in the markets here and there, where are the actual substantial changes in the economy as a result of Abe's programs. And by changes I mean positive ones.

From where I sit, the decline in the value of the yen has hurt the massive import side of the economy including energy imports. It has raised food and energy costs for most families. And with other prices also rising, is having direct negative impact on families.

Abe's call for increased wages has been answered with the collective industries giving him the finger. So worker wages are stagnated and in many cases dropping. Yet there is this expectation that they can pay more for imports and taxes.

So if they raise the taxes in 2014 as planned, guess who loses out. Working families.

Abe's plan is foolish, lacks substantial structural changes that could improve the economy, is based upon hot air and optimism and very little else. And the foolish public are buying into the hype for now. But they will be licking economic wounds very soon.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

The Tax increases are not the current government's ideas or plans. They were voted on by the last crappy government, and planned to implement in the future knowing full well they were likely to get tossed. This kind of political sleight of hand works well on westerners but not so well on Japanese people... though I have often asked people to name a society in history that taxed them into economic prosperity.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

So the government nets an unexpected trillion yen in revenue last year and immediately succumbs to "drunken-sailor syndrome". Extra revenue generated by an increase in the sales tax creates the same situation. For every ten yen in taxes collected, the government must spend 22 yen. They say that extra government spending is necessary to "lessen an economic blow from the increase in the consumption tax". Following that line of logic, wouldn't it make more since to eliminate the blow to the economy by eliminating the tax? If increases in revenue only result in increasing spending, and not to reduce shortfalls or outstanding debt, why should we be willing to pay even more taxes? I have just received my residency tax bill for the year, and I wonder how my tax payments will be pissed away.

Businesses and individuals are required by law to pay their debts on time, or face penalties. Borrowers must jump through hoops to finace their homes or businesses, and every request for a loan is thoroughly scrutinized by the lenders to make sure that the borrower will be able to repay it.

Why are not governments held to the same standards everyone else is?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I don't know ... but this sentence scares me: "Therefore the government will seek to limit additional borrowing by using budget reserves including greater-than-expected tax revenues for last fiscal year estimated at around 1 trillion yen."

When the LDP is running the government, the "including greater-than-expected tax revenues" often means these guys will be dipping into these revenues to enrich themselves in some way or other. Remember, when they lost big in the national elections three years ago ... they were being billed as being "corrupt."

I just hope someone responsible is watching the national till ... making sure nobody sticks their slimy fingers into the pot of gold to fulfil their own financial goals.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

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