ガソリン税ぜい暫定ざんてい税率ぜいりつ廃止はいし法案ほうあん 専門せんもん家か “丁寧ていねいな議論ぎろんと説明せつめい必要ひつよう”

Last week, the opposition parties submitted a bill to the extraordinary Diet session that was convened, aiming to abolish the provisional gasoline tax rate.

Experts say that if the provisional tax rate is abolished, households can expect to save about 7,000 yen per year. However, concerns about fiscal health persist in the financial markets, so careful discussion and explanation are necessary.

Nissei Basic Research Institute’s Chief Economist Takeshi Ueno estimates that if the subsidies to curb gasoline prices were discontinued and the provisional tax rate abolished, based on last year’s household survey data on gasoline consumption for households with two or more people, the average reduction in burden per household would be around 7,000 yen.

Mr. Ueno said, The benefits will be greater for car users in rural areas who use more gasoline.

As an indirect effect, transportation costs for companies are also expected to decrease, and the upward pressure on prices for households is expected to ease.

On the other hand, if the provisional tax rate is abolished, it is expected that there will be a revenue decrease of about 1 trillion yen per year from gasoline tax for both the national and local governments, and about 1.5 trillion yen if the similarly structured light oil delivery tax is included.

Mr. Ueno said, In the financial markets, concerns about fiscal policy are smoldering, and there are situations where government bond yields are rising and the yen is weakening.

After the ruling party lost its majority in the House of Councillors election, this bill, which is being introduced for the first time under the leadership of the opposition, has a symbolic significance. For that reason, there is a risk that the market may become more concerned about fiscal policy, leading to unfavorable rises in interest rates, among other things. Therefore, it is necessary to have careful discussions and provide thorough explanations regarding the impact on public finances.

Also, Mr. Ueno said, Up until now, weve dealt with high gasoline prices with ad hoc measures using subsidies, but this time well be tackling the very foundation of the tax system.

The real problem was the ambiguity of continuing with a provisional tax rate for nearly 50 years.

He pointed out, I would like discussions to be held from a broad perspective, including how automobile taxation in Japan should be and how national land development should be approached.