Japan mulls turning vehicle taxes into environment tax

Japan’s Internal Affairs Minister Kazuhiro Haraguchi said his ministry has begun studying a plan to unify a national tax based on motor vehicle tonnage and a local levy imposed on vehicle owners into an environment tax around the fiscal year beginning in April 2011. The minister also said a local environment tax to be levied based on the amount of carbon contained in gasoline and diesel fuel will also be discussed with the government tax commission, as well as the proposed environment tax on vehicles. One-third of the income from the vehicle tonnage tax, which is projected to total ¥1.08 trillion (US$12.02 billion), will go to municipal governments. (November 13, 2009)