There are three things unavoidable things in life: death, taxes, and the agony of our favorite anime series not getting a new season. Currently, Japan is preparing for a bump in the consumption tax (similar to VAT or U.S. sales tax) from 8% to 10% on most products. As always happens, the coming Japan tax increase has people freaking out, stocking up on tons of products, even though 10% is still a much lower rate than in many other countries.
It seems that everywhere I visit in Japan this year, I’m encountering beautifully renovated spaces. Both of the gyms I visit have undergone massive renovations, and even the run-down bars in Golden Gai all seem to sport clean, newly renovated bathrooms. This flurry of economic activity is naturally being done to get the country ready for the massive wave of foreign visitors who will come for the 2020 Olympics next August, but it’s also being done as part of of the rush to get as many improvements done as possible before the 10% tax increase.
https://twitter.com/JListPeter/status/1176662997466402816
Before every one of these small tax increases, Japanese consumers go crazy, stocking up on all kinds of food and beer to save some tax money. This creates a big lift in the local economy, which is then followed by a small crash after the tax increase arrives. Another problem is that consumption tax applies to pretty much everything, including land and home purchases. The prospect of paying an extra 2% to build a house or buy a condo always affects the economy negatively for months. Since Japan is a country that has very little natural inflation, even two decades after the Japan asset bubble crash of the early 1990s, anything that feels like inflation to Japanese consumers causes them to overreact.
This time around there’s even more grumbling from merchants because the tax rise isn’t a flat 10%. Taking a page from the U.K.’s complex VAT structure, Japan is raising the consumption tax on most items, but not others. If you buy some bread from a bakery and take it out with you, the tax is still the old 8%, but if you sit down to eat it at an “eat-in corner” inside the bakery, then it’s 10%. Updating the cash registers and re-training the staff about how to handle each situation has companies doing a major facepalm.
If you’ve got any questions on how taxes in Japan work, I’ve got a blog post for you to read.
Since paying higher taxes sucks for everyone, we thought it’d be fun to extend our popular ero toy sale for another week since everyone needs an excuse to buy something nice for their solo sexy time. So now you can pick up any adult toys for guys or girls, including lotion, and get $10 off $50 or more! Browse the ero toys here, or see the top ecchi items here.
