Right up to the last minute, two conflicting philosophies dominated the ruling coalition's debate on tax reform for fiscal 2002 -- whether to levy taxes wherever possible to help ease the government's dire financial straits or avoid major hikes in light of the economic slump.
The latter argument appears to have won out, as the package finalized Friday by the Liberal Democratic Party, New Komeito and the New Conservative Party apparently contains only minor revisions unlikely to affect the economy for better or worse.
Rather than producing substantial change, the tax reform debate provoked twists and turns within the LDP tax panel, which turned the debate into a microcosm of clashing objectives between tax authorities and businesses.