The Japanese government is about to raise taxes on its already struggling population.  This after Japanese unemployment hit record high levels.

The national government is pushing for an increase in income tax, from the current 40% to 45%!  They want to push their low national sales tax from the current 5% to 10% by October 2015 (still low by European standards).

The reason is to raise money to help pay for reconstruction of areas hit by the quake/tsunami, and to help with deal with the ongoing Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.  I suspect that in the long run these tax hikes will only reduce consumer spending, helping to drive even more Japanese businesses away from Japan (that’s the reason for their record high unemployment).

The national government (the Diet) will vote on the tax reform plans after March 2012.