Ruling Parties Plan to Lower Threshold for Ultra-Rich Tax Surcharge; Seek to Balance Strengthening Revenue with Maintaining Investor Spirit |
The Yomiuri Shimbun
16:07 JST, December 5, 2025
The government and the ruling coalition are working to expand the scope of a system that imposes an additional tax burden on the ultra-wealthy as part of their fiscal 2026 tax reforms. They plan to lower the income threshold at which the surcharge is applied from level of roughly ¥3 billion a year. The aim is to address what is known as the “¥100 million wall,” a phenomenon in which a person’s effective income-tax burden drops once their annual income exceeds ¥100 million.
For earned income such as wages, the marginal tax rate — including municipal resident taxes — rises with earnings and can reach as high as 55%. By contrast,........