Large retailers urged the government Oct. 23 to stimulate private consumption by reducing income taxes and allowing greater income tax breaks for part-time workers.The Japan Chain Stores Association made the request during a meeting with trade chief Mitsuo Horiuchi, according to a Ministry of International Trade and Industry official. JCA Chairman Toshimine Kobayashi, who is also chairman of Mycal Corp., expressed concern over dwindling private consumption, noting that chain store sales have been falling since April. He asked Horiuchi to take measures to expand disposable income through tax cuts and increased tax credits for part-time workers by raising the 1.03 million yen ceiling.The JCA, comprising 130 large retailers, also repeated its long-held request for the government to scrap the Large-Scale Retail Store Law. Kobayashi was quoted as saying that abolishing the law is indispensable to creating a "free, global and fair" business environment, thereby enabling large retailers to better serve consumer needs. Horiuchi did not specifically respond to the requests. Instead, he expressed the government's determination to accelerate and deepen the ongoing economic structural reform.
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