Japan's government is considering doubling the 5 percent consumption tax by the middle of the decade in two stages, Vice Finance Minister Fumihiko Igarashi said on Sunday. Japan has been considering a proposal to increase the tax, among the lowest in major economies, to try to reduce the country's large public debt.
"I think the actual timing for the sales tax increase will be after an election, and that will be from October 2013 onwards," he told a morning TV Asahi programme. "There was a proposal for a three-step hike, but we have to consider the hike in two stages."
Igarashi also said the deadline for submitting the bill for the sales tax hike is March 15, 2012.
When it came to power in 2009, the Democratic Party of Japan vowed not to raise the sales tax until the next general election, which the premier is not obliged to call until 2013.
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