According to a report by Nikkei on December 13, the Japanese government and ruling party are considering raising taxes on heated tobacco to raise funds needed to strengthen national defense.
The Japanese government intends to raise the tax burden on heated tobacco to the same level as traditional cigarettes. Currently, the tax on heated tobacco is 10-30% lower than that on traditional cigarettes in Japan.
According to a statement from the Japanese government at yesterday's ruling party tax agreement meeting: "In order to resolve the tax burden difference between heated tobacco and traditional cigarettes, they plan to increase revenue through an appropriate tax system to make up for the lack of defense spending."
Cigarette manufacturers and some Liberal Democratic Party members have called for the tax differential to be maintained, arguing that "heated tobacco products are less harmful to health."
In December 2022, the Japanese government revised three security agreements and plans to raise approximately 43 trillion yen for defense spending in the next five years. This plan will increase corporate income tax and tobacco taxes to make up for the possible substantial increase in defense spending in the future. expenditure.
