Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii suggested Tuesday that the government may scrap income tax deductions for dependents in fiscal 2010, before abolishing spousal income tax exemptions.

"It is possible" the government's plan to abolish the tax deductions for dependents will precede the envisioned elimination of the spousal tax exemptions, Fujii said at a news conference when asked whether the deductions will be ended in the year starting next April.

Fujii said the government's new tax panel will carry out in-depth talks on the matter, as the Democratic Party of Japan-led government wants "the income redistribution function to be strengthened."