TOKYO: Japan’s central government tax revenues in fiscal 2015 totaled ¥56.29 trillion ($549 billion), the Finance Ministry said Friday, falling short of a government estimate and making it hard to finance an extra budget expected in the current fiscal year. Tax revenue in the year ending March 31 increased over ¥2.3 trillion from a year earlier but fell short of a government projection for the first time in seven years due to lower corporate tax revenue, as companies took a hit from the yen’s appreciation.
Total tax revenue hit the highest level since fiscal 1991 due to increased revenue from personal income tax of ¥17.81 trillion, up about ¥1 trillion from a year earlier, thanks to higher wages and stock dividend income, the ministry said. Corporate tax revenue fell 200 billion yen to ¥10.83 trillion, over ¥900 billion less than the government had estimated. Government bond issuance was ¥1.5 trillion lower than planned, amid continued efforts to restore fiscal health. The ministry said there was a budget surplus of ¥254.4 billion.
Although the surplus could be used to fund a possible second supplementary budget for fiscal 2016, it would be lower than the more than ¥10 trillion that some lawmakers have said is needed. The government may have to issue additional bonds to finance the extra budget. Consumption tax revenue, meanwhile, rose by about ¥1.4 trillion to ¥17.43 trillion, mainly on the back of the 3-percentage-point sales tax hike to 8 percent in April 2014, the ministry said. With the strengthening of the yen and weak Japanese stocks this year, it may also be hard to achieve tax revenue of about ¥57.6 trillion as planned in the initial budget for fiscal 2016.
