Japan may delay some promised tax cuts

The government led by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) may delay the promised abolition of some provisional tax rates until Fiscal 2011 or later, a senior ruling party lawmaker said. The DPJ has pledged in its campaign platform to implement cuts in gasoline and other auto-related taxes in Fiscal 2010. ”Whether we will do all of them (in Fiscal 2010) depend on our discussions from now,” Senior Vice Finance Minister Naoki Minezaki said at a news conference after attending a meeting of the government’s key tax panel. The party’s campaign platform said the DPJ would ”study the introduction,” without specifying a time frame. (October 29, 2009)