Taxreform inJapan:Thecaseofpersonaltaxes
a,b
*
CharlesYujiHorioka
,ShizukaSekita
a
InstituteofSocialandEconomicResearch,OsakaUniversity,6-1,Mihogaoka,Ibaraki,Osaka567-0047,Japan
b
JapanSocietyforthePromotionofScience(JSPS)ResearchFellowandGraduateSchoolofEconomics,Osaka
University,c/oInstituteofSocialandEconomicResearch,6-1,Mihogaoka,Ibaraki,Osaka567-0047,Japan
Received21March2006;receivedinrevisedform 31May2006;accepted1June2006
Abstract
Inthispaper,weconductatheoreticalanalysisofpersonaltaxes(definedtoincludeconsumptionand
incometaxes),describeandevaluatethepastandpresentstructureofpersonaltaxesinJapan,andbasedon
ourfindings,makeanumberofpolicyrecommendationsabouthowtoreform personaltaxesinJapan.We
findthatthestructureofJapan’scurrentconsumptionandincometaxesisproblematicfrom theviewpoints
ofbothefficiencyandequityandproposeareform packagethatimprovesboththeefficiencyandequityof
Japan’spersonaltaxesand,atthesametime,achievesfiscalreconstruction.
#
2006ElsevierB.V.Allrightsreserved.
JELclassification:H21;H23;H24
Keywords:Consumption;Consumptiontax;CorlettandHague;Countercyclicalpolicy;Economicstimulus;Efficiency;
Equity;Excessburden;Fiscalreconstruction;Fiscalreform;Governmentdebt;Imputedrent;Incometax;Inverse
elasticityrule;Japan;Japaneseeconomy;Laborsupply;Leisure;Luxurygoods;Necessities;Optimaltaxation;Personal
taxes;Primarybalance;Progressivity;Ramsey;Regressivity;Saving;Taxreform
1.Introduction
TheJapanesegovernment’soutstandingdebtasaratioofGDPiscurrentlyinexcessof150
percentandisbyfarthehighestamongthemajorindustrializednations,dueinlargeparttothe
repeatedeconomicstimuluspackagesimplementedduringthedecade-longrecessionofthe
1990s.Thus,fiscalreconstructionisanurgentpriorityoftheJapanesegovernment,andithas
pledgedtorestoretheprimarybalance(definedasgovernmentrevenuesexcludingbondrevenues
minusgovernmentexpendituresexcludinginterestpaymentsanddebtredemption)tosurplusby
theearly2010s.TheJapanesegovernmentplanstoachievefiscalreconstructionthrougha
combinationofspendingcutsandtaxincreasessinceneitherofthem willbeenoughtodothe
trickbyitself.Withrespecttotaxincreases,theJapanesegovernmentappearstobeplanning
torelyprimarilyonhikesintheconsumptiontax,butinMarch2006,theFiscalSystem
Council(ZaiseiSeido-touShingikai)releasedtheresultsofitsprojectionsshowingthatthe
consumptiontaxwillhavetoberaisedsharplyfrom thecurrent5percenttoafull22percent
by2015iffiscalreconstructionistobeachievedbyrelyingsolelyonhikesintheconsump-
tiontax.
Theauthorsarestrongly againstusing hikesin theconsumption tax to achievefiscal
reconstruction,atleastifthecurrenthighlyregressivestructureoftheconsumptiontaxisnot
changed.Unlesstheconsumptiontaxcanbemademoreprogressivebyconvertingittoan
expendituretaxorbysettingalowertaxrateforfoodandothernecessitiesthanforothergoods,
wefavorrelyinginsteadonincreasingincometaxrevenuebystricterenforcementand/orgreater
progressivity.
InJapan,thereissubstantialtaxevasion,especiallybyfarmersandtheself-employed,and
thusrevenuefrom theincometaxcouldbeincreasedconsiderablyevenwithoutchangingtax
ratesifenforcementweremadestricter(forexample,byintroducingataxpayeridentification
numbersystem,increasingthenumberoftaxauditors,and/orincreasingtheproportionoftax
returnsthatareaudited).Moreover,stricterenforcementoftheincometaxwouldsimultaneously
enhancetheinter-occupationalequitythereof.
Ifstricterenforcementoftheincometaxdoesnotincreasetaxrevenuebyasufficientamount,
wefavorincreasingtaxrevenuebyincreasingtheprogressivityoftheincometax.Sincethe
burdenofincometaxesinJapanisfarlowerthaninothercountries,thereisconsiderablescope
forraisingincometaxesandmakingthem moreprogressive,anddoingsowillallowustoraise
morerevenueandtoimprovetheequityofthetaxatthesametime.
Wefavorachievingfiscalreconstructionbyraisingrevenuefromtheincometaxratherthanby
raisingrevenuefrom theconsumptiontaxprimarilybecauseofequityconsiderations.The
incometaxisfarmoreprogressive(andhencemoreequitable)thantheconsumptiontaxtobegin
with,andmoreover,ifweenforceitmorestrictlyandincreaseitsprogressivity,itwouldgenerate
morerevenueand,atthesametime,becomeevenmoreequitable(acrossoccupationsaswellas
acrossincomegroups),therebykillingtwobirdswithonestone.
Ifthereisnochoicebuttorelypartlyorwhollyonhikesintheconsumptiontaxasawayof
increasingtaxrevenueandachievingfiscalreconstruction,wefavorincreasingtheprogressivity
oftheconsumptiontaxbyintroducingadifferentialtaxrateforfoodandothernecessitiesand
eliminatingthedistortionscausedbytheconsumptiontaxusingthemeansdescribedindetailin
Section4.
Intheremainderofthispaper,weconductatheoreticalanalysisofpersonaltaxes(definedto
includeconsumptionandincometaxes),describeandevaluatethepastandpresentstructureof
personaltaxesinJapan,andbasedonourfindings,makeanumberofpolicyrecommendations
abouthow toreform personaltaxesinJapan.WefindthatthestructureofJapan’scurrent
consumptionandincometaxesisproblematicfrom theviewpointsofbothefficiencyandequity
andproposeareform packagethatimprovesboththeefficiencyandequityofJapan’spersonal
taxesand,atthesametime,achievesfiscalreconstruction.
Theorganizationofthepaperisasfollows.InSection2,weconductatheoreticalanalysisof
personaltaxes(consumptionandincometaxes)from theviewpointsofefficiencyandequity;in
Section3,wedescribeandevaluatethepastandpresentstructureofpersonaltaxesinJapanfrom
theviewpointsofefficiency,equityandcountercyclicalpolicy;andfinally,inSection4,wemake
policyrecommendationsbasedonourfindings我继续添加，一次发不完！我的邮箱shuoerbu@126.com,我给你传过去，还击败kb呢！
Tax is very important to our country， which can be used in the public services， such as education， road construction， public health and so on. As we all know， tax makes up a great part of our country's revenue， and the development of our country depends on it. we can see that it is everyone's legal duty to pay tax， because it means making contributions to the country and everyone can benefit from it. Those who try to dodge and evade taxation are sure to be punished， In a word， paying tax is our responsibility for society.
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