Small and medium-size enterprises urged the government Oct. 15 to promptly reduce corporate and income taxes to stimulate the economy.The request was made during a meeting between Mitsuo Horiuchi, the minister of international trade and industry, and representatives for four organizations of small and medium-size companies, a MITI official told reporters.The four organizations are the Central Federation of Societies of Commerce and Industry, the National Federation of Small Business Associations, the National Federation of Shopping Center Promotion Associations and the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The organizations also asked the government to refrain from further easing the Large-Scale Retail Store Law, one of the government's main deregulation initiatives.The organizations also asked the minister to ensure that small and medium-size companies receive benefits. They said that corporate tax reform should not benefit big companies at the expense of small and medium-size enterprises, the ministry officials said.While the government moves toward cutting effective corporate tax rates, it is also considering expanding the scope of taxation by eliminating some of the special exemption measures, which may lead to increasing the tax burden on small and medium-size firms.
