Japan's ruling party under Prime Minister Takaichi is still debating cutting the food consumption tax to zero and has effectively shelved a 1% proposal, LDP tax subcommittee chair Yamagiwa said after Monday's meeting. The party, which promised during February's election to speed up talks on a two-year suspension, may be leaning toward a full suspension despite concerns that retailers would need extended time to update POS and accounting systems. A cross-party group has argued 1% would be more op

Japan's ruling party under Prime Minister Takaichi is still debating cutting the food consumption tax to zero and has effectively shelved a 1% proposal, LDP tax subcommittee chair Yamagiwa said after Monday's meeting. The party, which promised during February's election to speed up talks on a two-year suspension, may be leaning toward a full suspension despite concerns that retailers would need extended time to update POS and accounting systems. A cross-party group has argued 1% would be more operationally feasible. The Finance Ministry estimates a zero rate would reduce revenue by about ¥5 tln a year. The proposal could revive investor worries about the Takaichi administration's fiscal discipline.