Japan raises consumption tax to 8 percent to address the nation’s economic problems but British exporters need not worry say financial experts.
Japan raised its consumption tax – the equivalent of VAT – on April 1, the first day of the fiscal year, as part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s broader plan to fix the nation’s economic problems.
The sales tax climbed from 5 percent to 8 percent and was the first such increase in 17 years. A further increase, to 10 percent, is scheduled to be introduced in October 2015.
And while any increase is inevitably unpopular with the public, there is a sense that it was necessary to help to deal with Japan’s massive national debt and financial concerns linked to the nation’s rapidly ageing population and climbing social welfare expenditures.
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Article by Julian Ryall, April 2014
