Japan ruling parties mull cash handouts without income limit ahead of upper house race
TOKYO -- The government and ruling coalition parties in Japan are considering using the surplus in national tax revenue for public cash handouts to counter soaring prices. A uniform handout in the range of tens of thousands of yen per person with no income restrictions has been proposed.
The plan is expected to be a pillar of the ruling parties' campaign pledge for this summer's House of Councillors election, and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior coalition partner Komeito intend to speed up combined efforts to work out a specific amount. The move was revealed June 9 by multiple sources within the government and ruling parties.
The government and ruling coalition in April considered uniform public cash handouts of 30,000 to 50,000 yen (approx. $207 to $345) to counter high tariffs imposed by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump and surging prices. However, they decided to forgo the plan as there was no prospect of securing cooperation from opposition parties to pass a supplementary budget bill to support the fiscal resources in the range of several trillion yen.
Furthermore, the LDP-Komeito coalition has clarified the parties do not plan to incorporate consumption tax reductions in their upper house election promises despite calls from opposition parties, drawing growing complaints from within the coalition that there was no "main attraction" in their campaign pledges.
Under the latest plan, the governing parties plan to tap the surplus in fiscal 2024 tax revenue as the resources for the cash handouts. It is estimated that this revenue, set to be finalized in July, will be several trillion yen higher than earlier expected.
The current plan would not impose income restrictions on the handouts. A senior administration official explained, "If we impose income restrictions, it will take a long time." The official said the handouts "will possibly be at least 20,000 yen (approx. $138) per person." Nevertheless, some within the government have called to exclude high-income earners from the relief measure.
In its upper house election pledge released June 6, Komeito incorporated "life support benefits" to return surplus tax revenue funds to the public.
Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito remarked during a speech in the city of Fukuoka on June 9 that he expected the individual handout sum to be "tens of thousands of yen," and added, "We will finalize the amount while consulting with the LDP." He proposed handing out the benefits in the form of "Myna Points," or points via the My Number individual ID system, to "make it easier for people to use them."
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