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July 09, 2026
 

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TAXES

A campaign poster for a Labour Party candidate in Burnley, England, in June 2024. Britain’s property tax system is unfair and outdated, and a proportional national levy could improve fairness, mobility and long-term economic growth.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 2, 2025
The U.K.’s property taxes are an irrational mess
There was no justification for a system that imposed a higher tax burden on a terraced house in Burnley, a deprived town in the northwest, than on a fancy mansion in London.
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama (fourth from left) delivers a greeting at the first ministerial meeting on Tuesday at the Prime Minister's Office to review tax measures, subsidies and funds, in an effort inspired by the U.S. "department of government efficiency."
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 2, 2025
Japan holds first meeting on DOGE-inspired waste cut
The government has established a department of about 30 people in the Cabinet Secretariat to find and eliminate wasteful spending in a DOGE-inspired style.
They government is mulling plans to allow withdrawals under the Nippon Individual Savings Account plan for small-lot investments once children reach the age of 12 to create more flexible asset management to meet needs, such as university enrollment.
BUSINESS
Dec 2, 2025
Japan weighs launching NISA investment program for children
The government is mulling plans to allow withdrawals under the Nippon Individual Savings Account plan for small-lot investments once children reach the age of 12.
A man walks past voting posters in favor of an initiative for compulsory civic duty for all is seen in a street in Geneva, on Nov. 25.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 1, 2025
Swiss reject universal compulsory civic duty and climate tax for superrich
Final results from across the country showed voters spurning the proposals that had generated significant discussion in the wealthy Alpine nation.
The Upper House passed and enacted a bill to scrap the provisional tax surcharges for gasoline and diesel fuel at its plenary session on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 28, 2025
Japan enacts bill to abolish add-on gasoline tax
The bill’s supplementary clause urges the central government to work out concrete measures to make up for an estimated overall annual tax revenue shortfall of ¥1.5 trillion.
The Prime Minister's Office, in Tokyo. The administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is developing the fiscal year 2026 budget as inflation remains high and markets are on edge about fiscal spending.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 27, 2025
2026 budget should take inflation into account: private-sector advisers
Their recommendation comes as prices rise rapidly and markets remain skittish.
Tourists at Sensoji temple at the Asakusa district in Tokyo. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government said Wednesday that it would shift its accommodation tax to a 3% fixed rate starting in fiscal 2027.
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2025
Tokyo government to shift to fixed-rate accommodation tax
The move is designed to align the tax with guests’ ability to pay as people are increasingly opting for high-priced accommodation.
Nagano Gov. Shuichi Abe (third from left), head of the National Governors' Association, speaks at a meeting hosted by the central government at the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2025
Prefectural governors call for measures to cope with tax revenue falls
While the tax cut is seen reducing local government revenue by about ¥500 billion per year, the prime minister said the central government will “ensure necessary general revenues.”
Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves is now the most unpopular finance minister since records began, according to pollster IPSOS.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 27, 2025
U.K. tax hikes to placate bond markets likely to be costly for Reeves
Hemmed in by the need to raise taxes to tackle public finances, the finance minister had few giveaways, opting instead to make small measures to try and lower the cost of living.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has said that overall new bond issuance for this year will remain below last year’s level, even with the announcement of the largest round of extra spending since the easing of pandemic restrictions.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 26, 2025
Sanae Takaichi seeks to fund stimulus without spooking markets
The prime minister last week unveiled Japan’s largest round of extra spending since the easing of pandemic restrictions.
The Lower House plenary session where the gasoline tax cut bill was approved, at the Diet on Tuesday
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 25, 2025
Lower House passes bill to scrap add-on gasoline tax
The legislation, adopted at a plenary meeting, also states that the provisional gas oil delivery tax surcharge of ¥17.1 per liter will be abolished April 1 next year.
The Cabinet is expected to submit an extra budget bill to finance the package to parliament, which is in session until Dec. 17.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 21, 2025
¥21.3 trillion stimulus package approved by Cabinet
Markets have been volatile amid concern about the plan, which includes ¥17.7 trillion of spending, ¥2.7 trillion in tax breaks and ¥900 billion in special account spending.
Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is reportedly set to propose a stimulus package of about ¥17 trillion.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 18, 2025
Extra-big extra budget pushed by some Japanese lawmakers
Bonds and stocks sink as they ask for an additional $50 billion and say debt might be the answer.
Itsunori Onodera, chair of the Liberal Democratic Party's Tax System Research Commission said it is essential "to discuss the ideal form of our tax system from a perspective close to citizens, instead of presuming that tax increases are inevitable," at the party's headquarters in Nagatacho, Tokyo, on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 18, 2025
LDP to consider adjustable income tax threshold
Itsunori Onodera, chair of the LDP’s Tax System Research Commission, said it was “natural” to link the income tax threshold with consumer prices.
Japan's National Diet Building in Tokyo on Oct. 21. The Takaichi administration is set to finalize an economic stimulus package exceeding ¥17 trillion for Cabinet approval on Friday, according to a report.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 16, 2025
Japan’s finance minister says stimulus package to exceed ¥17 trillion, Nikkei reports
Since taking office in October, Takaichi has pledged to compile a sizeable package of spending measures to cushion the economic blow from rising living costs.
Finance minister Satsuki Katayama answers questions from reporters in a group interview on Oct. 24.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 16, 2025
The challenges awaiting Japan’s new finance minister
Satsuki Katayama’s shattering of another glass ceiling last month puts her in charge of selling Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s “responsible and proactive fiscal policy.”
A plane takes off from Haneda Airport.
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2025
Japan may triple departure tax to tackle overtourism
The specific size of the increase will be discussed during fiscal 2026 tax system reform talks at the end of the year.
Officials of the six ruling and opposition parties attend a meeting to discuss scrapping the provisional gasoline tax surcharge, held at the parliament building on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2025
Search for alternate funding after gas tax abolition to be delayed one year
Abolishing the provisional gasoline tax, which the ruling and opposition parties formally agreed to scrap on Dec. 31, is expected to generate a revenue drop of about ¥1.5 trillion.
Executives of six ruling and opposition parties discuss scrapping the add-on levy for gasoline during their meeting in the parliament building on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 2, 2025
Japan sees no stable funding for costly policy plans
Six ruling and opposition parties broadly agreed Friday to scrap the add-on levy for gasoline on Dec. 31 and for gas oil on April 1 next year.
"The aim is to address public anxiety and a sense of injustice, not to exclude foreigners," Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said at a news conference on Friday at the Prime Minister's Office.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 31, 2025
Japan’s ministers likely to discuss policy for foreign nationals next week
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has made addressing issues related to foreign nationals one of her key policy agendas.
Japan needs caregivers. Young Indians are answering the call.
Young people in India's northeast are increasingly studying Japanese in hopes of building new lives and careers in Japan.
Osaka trumps Tokyo as both ranked among world’s top 10 most livable cities
Osaka’s infrastructure earned higher marks than Tokyo’s in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s latest Global Liveability Index.
Japanese teen arrested for booting users off streaming service
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has arrested a 15-year-old boy for allegedly creating a malicious program and canceling subscription accounts on the Bandai Channel.
Long-stalled maglev line finally gets green light from Shizuoka Prefecture
Environmental concerns relating to the construction of Central Japan Railway’s high-speed maglev line had contributed to years of delays for the project.
Violence toward ambulance crews in Tokyo higher in 2025 and rising this year
A bloodstained helmet worn by an ambulance crew member who became involved in a case of violent abuse against the crew
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.
Filmmaker explores history of discrimination against foreign nationals in Japan
Takashi Nishihara, the director of "Now and Then," in Tokyo on Wednesday. The director has spent 10 years traversing politically charged terrain while exploring youth-driven grassroots political movements that scrutinize the status quo.
Japanese nail salons are tourists’ new obsession
Tourists in Japan have always been interested in quintessentially Japanese approaches to modern culture, and, increasingly, visits to nail salons have become the new hot thing.
Okinawa’s prized seaweed under threat as oceans warm
Local harvesters gather <i>mozuku</i> during low tide at Hyakuna Beach in the city of Nanjo, Okinawa Prefecture. As the planet warms, rising ocean temperatures are placing increasing pressure on the seaweed industry.
‘Defense,’ not ‘warfare,’ stressed as pacifist Japan beefs up capabilities
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi attends an annual training session near Mount Fuji at Higashifuji Training Field in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, on June 7.

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One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
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