The Tax Commission’s Sub－Committee on the Taxation of Financial Assets met on May 23rd 2003.
| ||
|
|
1. | Committee member Professor Ikeo made a presentation on the subject of the taxation of income from financial assets. The main points of the presentation were as follows: | |
 | Current taxation of financial assets is complicated and creates room for tax arbitrage. It should be possible to assess taxation on an accruals basis and where possible to use the current price of the asset when assessing transfer tax | |
| In the case of risky assets such as stocks, the holdings of older people are too high compared to the holdings of younger people. In order to encourage investment in riskier assets, such as stocks, through tax policy, it is necessary to focus on the profile of the holders of such assets, rather than the returns on the assets | |
2. | Ministry of Finance personnel made a presentation on the subject of Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TINs). The main points were as follows: | |
| An explanation of the Law of the Basic Resident Registers, the Law on the Protection of Personal Information, the Law on Customers Identification by Financial Institutions etc, and the change in the circumstances relating to TINs | |
| An explanation of the systems in use in various foreign countries (the expansion of the use of social security numbers to use in tax purposes, the change in the range of uses of TINs, the use of declaration of information returns in income tax declaration) | |
| Whilst keeping in mind the Japanese people’s attitude and thinking regarding TINs, the other data systems that support the tax system, and the existing systems of financial and stock-related taxation, it is intended to thoroughly examine the possible introduction of TINs henceforth | |
3. | A representative of the Japanese Institute of Certified Public Accountants made a presentation on the subject of information security. | |
Records (in Japanese) of the meetings of the Tax Commission and its Sub－Committees can be found at http://pbcms.mof.go.jp/jouhou/syuzei/sy012.htm | ||
Further details of the fiscal year 2003 tax reforms can be found in English at http://www.mof.go.jpenglish/tax_policy/tax_reform/fy2003/index.htm | ||
| Japanese documents, which go into more detail, can be found at http://www.mof.go.jp/tax_policy/tax_reform/outline/index.html | ||
