NEWSWORTHY
Japan to curb expensive gift incentives under 'hometown tax' program
The program allows taxpayers to donate to any municipality and receive tax cuts, but has led to fierce competition among local governments to lure donations with expensive gifts.
Government eyeing rework of 'hometown tax donation' system to curb use of gifts
The government is considering reworking furusato nōzei (hometown tax donation), a system that allows taxpayers who typically live in urban areas to make donations to rural areas in exchange for tax credit, officials said Wednesday. The system was implemented in 2008 as a way to ...
Hometown donation system enters new phase, with a focus on building for the future
Local governments in Japan are grappling to find new ways to attract donations under the furusato nōzei (hometown tax donation) system, now that intense competition among them to offer the most appealing gifts to donors has subsided. The system allows people to donate money to ...
Rural 'furusato nozei' beer, beef thank-yous costing urban Japan much-needed revenues
Want a free case of craft beer? If you send ¥30,000 or more of your taxes to the town of Yamanouchi in Nagano Prefecture, they'll send you 24 bottles of a locally brewed beer to say thanks. Want beef? Redirect ¥50,000 of your local area ...
Donations to municipalities of choice grow fourfold in fiscal 2015
Donations to municipalities that qualify as tax-deductable soared over fourfold in fiscal 2015 from a year earlier, the government said Tuesday. The donations in fiscal 2015 totaled ¥165.29 billion, compared with ¥38.85 billion in fiscal 2014, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry said. It attributed the ...
Hokkaido city repays 'hometown tax' donors with crab and other seafood, sees donations soar
The Hokkaido city of Nemuro has been receiving a flood of donations from across the country after it started sending crab and other local seafood to repay the generosity of donors, who have given close to one-third of its tax revenue in the current ...
