On December 5, 2024, the LDP’s Automotive Diet Members Association held a general meeting and policy roundtable.

Fifteen automobile-related organizations also attended the meeting, and based on the “Requests for Tax Reform, etc. in FY 2013,” compiled by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), they conveyed key requests, including the abolition of double taxation and environmental performance discount taxation at the time of acquisition and unification with the consumption tax, and the introduction of a system in which the tax base for taxation at the time of possession is unified by “weight” and the amount of tax is increased or decreased according to environmental performance. The report also outlines the following requests.

As discussions on a fundamental review of automobile-related taxes will begin in earnest in 2025, this request is important as a basis for the discussions, and for automobile users, as the number of high-priced cars in the new car market increases, a reduction in the burden of automobile acquisition and ownership is expected to be a catalyst for stimulating demand that has been suppressed due to reluctance to buy. In 2024, there will be a major change in the balance of power between existing media and SNS. We are now in an era in which people are expected to acquire the literacy to find and judge correct information on their own, and to examine the world’s trends, referring to online information as well.

Even if the elimination of double taxation and the abolition of the “temporary tax rate” for vehicle body and fuel taxation, which are currently the focus of attention, are realized, it is quite possible that new tax burdens will be created in ways that are difficult for ordinary consumers to notice in order to secure financial resources. In order to realize a truly “car-friendly and user-friendly” environment, it is important that the burden be reduced as expected by users, and it is important for both companies and users to keep a close eye on policy developments and their implications.