Six ruling and opposition parties on Wednesday agreed to explore the possibility of scrapping the provisional gasoline tax surcharge by the end of this year, Itsunori Onodera, tax chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said.
The LDP previously considered keeping the surcharge in place at least until mid-January in consideration of the gasoline industry. Wednesday's agreement means the LDP made concessions to opposition parties, which have been calling for scrapping the add-on gasoline levy within the year.
Kazuhiko Shigetoku, tax chief of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, called the agreement "a big step forward."
The six parties will continue discussions about securing alternative revenue sources after scrapping the surcharge.
"We will keep making efforts to find a common ground," Onodera said.
The six parties also confirmed plans to raise gasoline subsidies gradually, starting on Nov. 13, before scrapping the surcharge. They aim to eventually raise the subsidies to ¥25.1 per liter to offset the extra levy.
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