Japan won’t introduce environment tax in 2010

Japan has decided to abandon its plan to introduce an environment tax in the next fiscal year starting in April, taking into account strong opposition from the business community and ruling party lawmakers who are preparing for an upper house election next summer, government sources said.  The Environment Ministry has been requesting that the government establish the tax system next April. The green tax has been put forward as a means of making up for an expected loss of 2.5 trillion yen (US$28.13 billion) in tax revenues from the planned abolition of provisional surcharges on gasoline and other taxes. (December 14, 2009)