[NEWS] The Japan Association of New Economics submits proposals for tax reforms for fiscal 2024 to the government

The Japan Association of New Economy, a general incorporated foundation whose representative director is Hiroshi Mikitani, Chairman and CEO of Rakuten, submitted a "Proposal for Tax Reform in 2024" to the government on the 16th.

The Japan Association of New Economy's basic approach to the tax system in general is to lower tax rates to promote growth, increase tax revenues, and return to domestic investment. It has set three pillars to achieve a "virtuous cycle of tax and growth," and proposes tax reforms for each.

1. "Promoting domestic investment"

   In addition to encouraging investment into Japan from both within and outside of Japan, it will support the creation of new flows of money, such as crypto assets and philanthropy, from a tax perspective. This includes reviewing corporate tax, income tax, and inheritance tax, creating a crypto asset tax system, and creating a tax system to strengthen the development of AI.

2. "Investing in people"

   Increase the liquidity of the labor market, secure highly skilled human resources from both within and outside of Japan, and develop leaders who will lead the next generation of Japanese industry. This includes reviewing the tax system to accommodate new ways of working, reviewing the tax system to attract people, knowledge, and money from overseas, and responding to taxation on cross-border economies.

3. "Supporting startups and improving productivity"

   We will promote innovation by reviewing tax systems that are startup-friendly and encourage research and development, and promote digital transformation and raise productivity. We will expand the digital transformation promotion tax system, review the research and development tax system, and improve the system to encourage investment in startups.

The proposal for tax reform for 2024 submitted by the Japan Association of New Economy is not something that can be realized immediately, but it is very valuable in terms of showing the direction in which the Japanese economy will move in the future.

The Japan Association of New Economy has set a goal of making Japan a hub nation where "people, knowledge, and money" from around the world gather.

At the recent press conference, Prime Minister Kishida emphasized tax cuts as a "growth strategy." However, this tax cut policy is a tax cut system aimed only at certain companies, and does not reduce the tax rates of core taxes that directly affect the general public. Furthermore, it has been pointed out that the scale of the cut is not commensurate with the size of the supplementary budget.

Reference:Announcement
Image: Quoted from the announcement