Tokyo will start making significant cuts to the corporate tax rate by April 2015 in line with its aim of making the economy more competitive and of spurring a recovery driven by spending and massive monetary stimulus, deputy economy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said.
"Japan needs more foreign direct investment and we want to do more to encourage corporations to invest here," Nishimura said Wednesday in an interview in New York. The government plans to outline in June more details on measures that will make it easier to do business in Japan, he said.
Japan's effective tax rate of about 36 percent is the second-highest in the Group of Seven after the United States, and compares with levies of about 24 percent in South Korea and 23 percent in Britain.