E-Malt.com News article: Japan: Government considering raise of tax rates on beer-like drinks

Japan’s government and the ruling bloc are considering raising tax rates on beer-like drinks, while cutting the tax rate on beer, lawmakers said July 15.

The tax change would be aimed at preventing tax revenues from falling further, amid growing sales of beer-like drinks, whose tax rates are much lower than on beer.

Prices on beer-like drinks are likely to rise, possibly sparking criticism from consumers who may also suffer from a 2-percentage-point consumption tax hike to 10 percent from October next year.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government and the ruling camp, led by Abe's Liberal Democratic Party, plan to incorporate the tax proposal in a tax reform blueprint for fiscal 2015, which is scheduled to be finalized at the end of this year.

The government raised the consumption tax rate by 3 percentage points to 8 percent on April 1 in an attempt to restore Japan's precarious fiscal health - the worst among major industrialized economies.

Under the current tax system, taxes on beer and beer-like drinks vary based on how much a beverage includes malt. The tax rate on beer is 77 yen for a 350 millimeter can, that on "happoshu" low-malt beer is 47 yen, and that on "third-category beer" is only 28 yen.


16 July, 2014