The ruling coalition is considering taking the unusual move of submitting a stopgap bill to the Diet to maintain provisional gasoline and other auto-related tax rates until May 31, triggering angry protests from the opposition parties.
Last week, the government submitted a tax reform bill for fiscal 2008, including a clause to maintain the current rates for special higher gasoline and other auto-related taxes, due to expire at the end of March, for another 10 years, which is the key goal for Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda this Diet session.
But the Democratic Party of Japan, the main opposition force, has declared its intention to abolish the special additional tax rates and to lower gasoline prices.