Japan Opposition Vows To Tax The Rich, Raise Wages

The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ) will pledge to increase taxes on rich individuals and large companies while easing the burden on lower- and middle-income households in its campaign platform for the general election this month, party sources told Kyodo News.

Photo Insert: Opposition leader Yukio Edano

The CDPJ will call for a temporary lowering of the consumption tax from the current 10 percent to 5 percent and will effectively exempt people who earn less than around 10 million yen ($88,550) annually from paying income tax, according to the sources.

The party apparently aims to one-up Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, whose vows to reduce wealth disparity are in question after he walked back plans to review Japan's capital gains tax.

The CDPJ's campaign platform will claim that "Abenomics," the policy mix implemented by the former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his successor Yoshihide Suga, has caused the gap between the rich and the rest of the population to widen.

The CDPJ looks to raise the capital gains tax to 25 percent by fiscal 2023 in principle and eventually lift it to 30 percent, Edano said in parliament Monday.

The Japanese Communist Party (JCP), which the same day unveiled its own campaign platform, vowed to give cash handouts of 100,000 yen to middle-income households and raise the minimum wage, currently averaging at 930 yen, to 1,500 yen per hour.

Like the CDPJ, the JCP looks to lower the consumption tax to 5 percent. The LDP currently holds 276 of 465 lower house seats, while Komeito has 29. The CDPJ controls 112 seats and the JCP has 12.

Both the CDPJ and the JCP, which along with other left-leaning opposition parties are looking to consolidate candidates in competitive constituencies to snatch away seats from the ruling coalition, are seeking to legally recognize same-sex marriage and give married couples the option to use separate surnames.

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