The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) will pledge to increase taxes on rich individuals and large companies while easing the burden on lower- and middle-income households in its campaign platform for the general election this month, party sources have said.
According to the sources, the CDP will call for a temporary lowering of the consumption tax from the current 10% to 5% and will effectively exempt people who earn less than around ¥10 million annually from paying income tax.
The party apparently aims to one-up Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, whose vows to reduce wealth disparity are in question after he walked back plans to review Japan's capital gains tax.