From our other sites
The story
Economist and former Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy Heizo Takenaka (75) sparked discussion on 5ch’s “Nandemo Jikkyo G” board after declaring that “Japan should scrap its inheritance tax — that’s the reason the economy never grew.” Given his track record of driving deregulation and the expansion of non-regular employment under the Koizumi and Abe administrations, many mocked him for “now blaming inheritance tax for a problem he himself helped create.” Others pointed out that because Japan’s inheritance tax erodes assets, wealthy Japanese are moving their money overseas while foreign capital buys up real estate in their place. Still others argued the opposite — that strengthening the inheritance tax would actually push people to spend down their assets and energize the economy — leaving the debate pulling in more than one direction.
What people said
His turn's coming soon enough too… (you know how it goes)
Because a talented guy's son turns out talented too
That right there is the messed up part
It's already locked in place — look at political dynasties
Before the war, titled nobility got inheritance tax breaks too
Just tax the Chinese buyers more then
Yelling "it's the foreigners!" doesn't make every argument valid
They can't collect it — that's exactly why we're in this mess
Just amend the tax law. To begin with, it's already unequal — the hurdles for a Japanese person buying land in China are insanely high
No way, no way. The national policy is all about squeezing taxes out of Japanese citizens while completely failing to collect anything from Chinese nationals flitting in and out of the country
It's true. Poor people decide everything out of pure jealousy, and in the end Japan just gets bought up by the Chinese. Japanese people are idiots.
Yeah, yeah. I've never once seen anyone spouting that kind of nonsense actually back it up with evidence
Once you have a certain amount of money you realize spending it purely on yourself gets empty fast — that's why rich people care about leaving an inheritance. If it gets any heavier, more of them will just flee the country
It's simple — with real estate, if a foreigner buys under an overseas corporate name instead of their own, it can't really be taxed. The tax office can't reach that far
I see, sorry for calling it nonsense earlier. Still, that's a loophole issue, not a problem with inheritance tax itself, so I'm still against scrapping it
Even if the rich get richer, it doesn't benefit me at all, so no problem
That needs a countermeasure. Why not tax based on citizenship? Slap a heavy tax on renouncing it too
So then the conclusion becomes "earning money in the first place is pointless," and Japan goes under beautifully. The end.
Anyone who jumps to such a dumb extreme isn't capable of earning money anyway, so no problem
In America you get taxed no matter where you live
What do you want done about it? Make it so people can only cherry-pick the good parts?
Background and Key Points of the Debate
Takenaka Heizo served as Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy under the Koizumi administration, where he is known for spearheading the privatization of the postal service and the deregulation of temporary staffing. Japan’s top inheritance tax rate sits at 55%, among the highest of any major economy, and complaints that people “can’t pass on what they earned to the next generation without it being eaten up” have long simmered. On the thread, many pushed back on the logical leap that “scrapping inheritance tax would spur economic growth,” repeatedly citing concerns that it would entrench inequality. Others pointed to loopholes unrelated to the tax itself — such as foreigners buying real estate under offshore corporate names to dodge it — meaning the debate ended up mixing two separate issues: the merits of inheritance tax, and foreign capital buying up property. Some even argued the opposite of Takenaka’s position: that a stronger inheritance tax would push people to spend down their assets and actually stimulate the economy, making this far from a simple for-or-against split.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “Takenaka Heizo (75): “Scrap Japan’s Inheritance Tax — That’s Why the Economy Never Grew”.”
Leave a Reply