Takaichi mulls halting sales tax on food

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is considering a pledge to suspend the sales tax on food as part of her campaign for a general election next month, the Mainichi newspaper reported, citing unnamed sources.

The government and Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party will carefully assess the market impact before deciding, as scrapping the 8% levy on food sales would cut government revenue by an estimated five trillion yen (RM128.3bil) a year, the newspaper said in the report late on Friday.