From our other sites
The story
It was learned on the 13th that the government is coordinating to keep the consumption tax rate on restaurant dine-in at 10%, while lowering the rate on food products from 8% to 1% in April 2027. The restaurant industry had requested demand-boosting measures such as issuing meal vouchers, warning that the widening tax gap could reduce customer traffic, but the government has leaned toward forgoing large-scale, across-the-board support, citing differing impacts by business type. It also signaled plans to offset reduced take-home income for small and micro-scale farmers through cash benefits, and the differing treatment between industries is expected to draw opposition pushback in Diet deliberations. On 5ch threads, distrust over pandemic-era support measures fueled comments like “we don’t need support now,” with opinions also divided over points such as alcohol being excluded from the tax cut and labor shortages.
It was learned on the 13th that, regarding the consumption tax cut on food and beverages, the government is coordinating to forgo demand-boosting measures such as issuing meal vouchers that had been requested by the restaurant industry, which will keep its 10% rate. While the widening tax-rate gap with boxed lunches and prepared foods—dropping from 8% to 1%—risks reducing customer traffic, the government has leaned toward judging that large-scale support is not appropriate given that the impact varies by business type. In deliberations over the related bill submitted to the Diet on the 9th, opposition parties are expected to push back and demand more robust measures.
In the tax reform outline decided in September, the government stated explicitly that it would “assess which business types are affected and implement appropriate support” for the restaurant industry. It plans to focus on encouraging business diversification—such as introducing takeout options and automation—and will finalize the details of support measures by year-end, when the initial fiscal 2027 budget is compiled.
As for support for businesses affected by the tax cut, the government is leaning toward using cash benefits to cover the drop in take-home income for small and micro-scale farmers. It appears the treatment of restaurants and farmers will differ significantly.
Source: 47news.jp / Original article here
What people said
Restaurants already raised prices 10% starting in October, so they'll be fine
Denmark 25% (food 25%)
Norway 25% (food 15%)
Finland 24% (food 14%)
Japan 10% (food 8%)
Japan's consumption tax is already low, so there's no need for a tax cut or abolition
You're a shill, aren't you? Stop spamming that copypasta
Do you even understand the point of lining up Nordic countries?
The reason you don't mention the US and UK is that this argument doesn't work for them lol
Small restaurants buy ingredients at wholesale supermarkets, so their costs should go down too — wouldn't that be enough?
The standing bar I often stop by after work has four staff, three of them foreign. The one who's like an area manager is Chinese, and the kitchen guy seems to be Vietnamese ("Guen," a generic nickname used here for Vietnamese workers).
Since it's an open kitchen you can see how they work, and that Vietnamese guy is super diligent and tidy. Even if you lump them together as "foreigners," it really varies case by case.
Essential workers had to fend for themselves with no days off
Please stop supporting only specific industries
Hmm, true
Now's the time to hit restaurants with a targeted tax hike to get some payback
Subsidies are completely out of the question
Lol, during Covid some small restaurant owner used the relief money to trade up his car for a Gelände (slang for the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, a luxury SUV)
Seems like fraud involving the Covid business continuation subsidy was pretty bad lol
Number of people arrested: 2,866
Number of cases: 2,578
Prosecuted damages: approx. ¥2.56 billion
These are the numbers for cases where people posed as business operators without actually running a business, or faked their sales figures, to fraudulently obtain the subsidy
So it was basically a government-made pandemic crisis, huh
Small independent shops got over ¥20 million
Between the business continuation subsidy, rent assistance, and the shortened-hours cooperation payments
People without money are probably already cooking at home, so there'll barely be any impact
Yeah, I think so too
I guess people just won't go to places staffed entirely by foreign part-timers
Even if sales don't drop, restaurants are effectively facing a tax increase, so the impact is huge
And restaurants are already pricier to begin with, so there's even less reason to drink out
The restaurant industry has to compete while saddled with this consumption-tax handicap — it's over lol
Alcohol isn't getting a tax cut, and it's already 10% anyway
Alcohol was never eligible for the reduced tax rate to begin with
It's currently 10%, not 8%
Excluded from the reduced tax rate: Food qualifies for the reduced rate (8%), but alcohol is excluded and subject to the standard 10% rate.
Under the food consumption tax cut planned for April 2027 (from 8% to 1%), alcohol will remain excluded (the standard 10% rate stays in place).
when you see restaurants overflowing all over central Tokyo, it's easy to think "things would be fine even if quite a few close down."
But that's not the whole story: food wholesalers that supply restaurants, and everyone else who does business with the restaurant industry, would all take a hit too.
Try looking at society as a whole a little more… (trails off into an unclear bit of slang, "sana-katsu")
It would raise productivity far more if the people working there moved into jobs society actually needs, like infrastructure, construction, or logistics
Low-wage sweatshop businesses like restaurant chains and convenience stores are zombie industries that spread deflation, low wages, and labor shortages throughout society, only to collapse in the end
Yoshinoya currently charges 8% for takeout, so it's 2% cheaper
But McDonald's makes takeout the same price as eating in
(They set the takeout menu price higher than the dine-in price, so even with the 8% tax you end up paying the same total as the 10% dine-in price)
I really want to see what McDonald's does about this
In that case, what about eel restaurants?
And Nakau's seafood rice bowls too
They casually have single items over ¥1,500, so there'd be no price difference from family restaurants
This is really aimed at destroying Japanese agriculture
Cheap restaurants mostly use imported ingredients anyway
Don't you know restaurants mostly use processed and frozen goods from China?
If anything, it's the anti-Japan restaurant industry that's been destroying Japanese farmers
Background and key points of this topic
Starting in April 2027, the consumption tax on food products will drop from 8% to 1%, while the rate on dine-in restaurant meals will remain unchanged at 10%. There are concerns that the widening gap with takeout and prepared foods will hurt restaurant foot traffic, and the government’s September tax reform outline stated it would provide “appropriate support after assessing the impact,” but it has leaned toward forgoing large-scale, across-the-board support given that the impact varies by business type. Meanwhile, cash benefits to offset reduced take-home income are being considered for small and micro-scale farmers affected by the tax cut, and the differing treatment between industries looks set to become a point of contention in upcoming Diet deliberations. On the thread, frustration over fraud and profiteering tied to pandemic-era business continuation subsidies and shortened-hours cooperation payments fueled widespread comments of “we don’t need support now,” while structural issues like labor shortages and reliance on imported ingredients also came up. One easily misunderstood point: alcohol is excluded from this tax-rate cut and will continue to be taxed at 10%.
※This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (News Express+) thread “Large-scale support for restaurant industry to be shelved — 10% consumption tax maintained, fears of customer attrition.”
Leave a Reply