The Japanese government has shelved the idea of raising taxes to increase defense spending, Kyodo News reported on December 5, citing an informed source.
It is reported that the government will consider other mechanisms to obtain a stable source of income. They will be required to increase the defense budget to the NATO standard of 2% of GDP by 2027.
The government is not supposed to lay out any concrete steps to increase taxes in the budget for fiscal year 2023. Instead, the authorities will try to reduce non-defense spending, since the tax increases will directly affect residents and country organizations.
Formal negotiations on the tax reform planned for the next fiscal year will begin on December 6 between representatives of the ruling coalition, the Liberal Democratic Party, and its junior partner, Komeito. They intend to make a decision around December 15.
Raising taxes could solve the problem of doubling the defense budget from 1% to 2%. The desire to increase military spending was previously announced by the current Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida.
Remember that after the results of World War II, Japan has no right to maintain its own army or conduct military operations. However, now the Japanese authorities are actively promoting the change of key documents regulating the country’s security policy.
Following the development of a scandal over the close ties of almost half of the ruling party’s deputies to a religious organization known for its dubious marketing techniques, the government’s rating began to plummet, falling to 30-40% in September. Since then, the level of approval of the authorities’ actions has continued to gradually decline.
The scandal surrounding the influence of the Unification Church in the government arose after the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the eve of elections for the upper house of the Japanese Parliament.
The killer told investigators that he was seeking revenge on the cult that ruined his family, and that Abe was allegedly closely associated with it, while speaking at one of the organization’s events.
Before the scandal, the Japanese authorities were also actively discussing the possibility of changing the country’s constitution, in particular, the abolition of the “pacifist” article. In mid-December, Kishida intends to introduce changes to key security documents to, in particular, give Japan the right to attack missile bases on the territory of a potential enemy.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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