The taxman cometh

And he’s taking your money to Touhoku! Or something to that effect. New income taxes kick in today for all wage earners in ye old Nihon, with it all supposed to be aimed at supporting recovery efforts in Touhoku. The Asahi Shimbun, at least, thinks that this money might not all be used appropriately.

所得税の復興増税、 １月１日スタート 税額の２．１％分

東日本大震災からの復興に使うお金に充 てる、所得税の「復興増税」が１月１日か らスタートする。住民税の増税は２０１４ 年６月から始まる。復興予算では、被災地 以外に使われる流用が問題になっており、 使い方を改めてチェックする必要がありそ うだ。 当初５年間で復興のために使う予算１９ 兆円のうちの１０．５兆円を復興増税でま かなう仕組み。所得税は１３年１月から２ ５年間、税額の２．１％分が、住民税は１ ４年６月から１０年間、年１千円が上乗せ される。法人税は１２年４月から始まって おり、３年間税額の１０％分高くなる。

http://www.asahi.com/business/update/1231/TKY201212310359.html

Income taxes - “recovery tax increase” begins on 1/1. Increase tax revenue by 2.1%

Designated as funds to be used for the Eastern Japan earthquake recovery, a “recovery tax increase” in the income tax is set to start on 1/1. Residential taxes are set to increase in June 2014. There could be a problem with funds in the recovery budget being diverted for use outside the recovery zone and it appears that there is a need for a formal review process on usage.

This recovery tax increase is aimed to cover 10.5 trillion of the 5 year, 19 trillion yen recovery budget. The income tax will start in January 2013, run for 25 years, and account for 2.1% of total taxes collected while the residential tax will start in June 2014, run for 10 years, and amount to more than 10 million yen per year. The corporate tax increase began in April 2012 and total taxes will rise by 10% over 3 years.