Monday's upward revision of Japan's real gross domestic product is yet another favorable signal for the administration to raise the consumption tax as scheduled next April.
The economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.8 percent in the three months through June in inflation-adjusted terms, up sharply from the preliminary data, as business investment received an upward tweak, the government said.
But one claim that remains the core argument for opposing the tax hike is the lack of growth in tax income since 1997, when the consumption levy was last raised, from 3 percent to 5 percent.