Japan to Mull Raising Maximum Income Tax Rate: Kan

Tokyo, Feb. 19 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government will consider
whether it should raise the maximum income tax rate at its Tax Commission,
Finance Minister Naoto Kan said Friday.

Kan made the remark before the House of Representatives Financial
Affairs Committee. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama showed a positive stance
toward such a tax hike in a recent meeting with Japanese Communist Party
leader Kazuo Shii.
In the current income tax system, income-redistributing functions
are weak, Kan told the Lower House committee.
The maximum rate now stands at 40 pct, after being lowered
gradually from 70 pct in 1986.