TOKYO: Japan’s government is evaluating a new tax to fund repairs for aging public infrastructure as a replacement for a decades-old gasoline surcharge scheduled for abolition by year-end.
The Asahi newspaper reported that this potential levy would likely target automobile drivers, substituting the so-called provisional gasoline tax that ruling and opposition parties agreed to terminate promptly.
This provisional tax was initially implemented in the 1970s as a temporary measure to finance road construction and maintenance, adding 25.1 yen per litre to the base rate of 28.7 yen.
Its elimination would result in an annual revenue loss of approximately one trillion yen from general tax collections.
The finance ministry and internal affairs ministry will prepare preliminary plans that might incorporate new fuel-based taxation mechanisms.
Revenues generated from the proposed tax would be allocated to local governments responsible for most infrastructure maintenance expenses.
However, the new tax might face opposition criticism as merely repackaging the expiring gasoline levy without genuinely reducing consumer burdens during rising living costs.
The Ministry of Finance has not provided immediate commentary regarding this reported development. – Reuters
