The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) investigated the actual situation of the total public burden borne by Japanese corporations with a questionnaire. METI would like to announce the results of analysis as follows (the investigation was entrusted to PricewaterhouseCoopers):

* Note that a part of the following data is contained in the report "Industrial Structure Vision 2010" published on June 3 as "International Comparison of Total Public Burden Ratio"

Points of the Investigation Results

1. The ratio of total public burden for a Japanese corporation consisting of corporation tax, property tax and other taxes and corporate social insurance contributions is 50.4% in reality, which is at quite a high level when compared with those in other countries.

2. When compared with corporations in the UK or the U.S, in particular, the actual rate of corporation tax for a Japanese corporation is about 10% higher. This is the largest factor that increases the public burden ratio of Japanese corporations.

3. In addition, when checking the national and local taxes in the total public burden, the local tax represents near 40% of the total amount. This is a great burden for corporations.

4. The total amount of various expenses required for international and domestic taxation jobs per corporation is 161,070 million yen. The matters which corporations especially feel as burdens are preparations and actions in relation to audits by tax authorities, adjustments of tax law and accounting standards for tax returns, and so on.

Reference

• Points of the Investigation Results (PDF:223KB) Updated on July 7, 2010

June 7, 2010

Corporate Affairs Division, Economic and Industrial Policy Bureau