Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Friday he hopes to raise indirect taxes, including asset taxes, and reduce the burden of direct taxes in a comprehensive tax reform plan to be introduced later this month.
"It is necessary to increase the weight of indirect taxes by reducing the burden of direct taxes," Shiokawa told a regularly scheduled news conference.
Under the current tax system, direct taxes, including income tax and corporate tax, account for about 60 percent of overall tax revenues.