The LDP's tax commission chair, Onozuka, joined an anti-oil-tax rally in Tokyo on Wednesday wearing a headband reading "no tax hike," even as his panel prepares to debate how electric vehicles should share the road-tax burden.
Onozuka said fairness in tax burdens matters so that the load does not tilt toward any single energy source. He was speaking about the planned review of automobile taxation.
EVs, or electric vehicles, pay nothing equivalent to the gasoline tax that funds road maintenance. That gap with gasoline-powered cars has been raised as a fairness problem.
Last year's tax reform outline called for a "fair, neutral and simple" burden based on vehicle weight and environmental performance, with a conclusion to be reached in the fiscal 2027 tax revision.
Discussion at the LDP tax commission is set to get fully under way toward the end of the year.
Inherited-share valuations draw party dissent
Onozuka also addressed the planned rework of how unlisted shares are valued, a change that has drawn objections from within the LDP. "There are many points raised that it is too drastic a change," he said.
At the same meeting, industry groups including the Petroleum Association of Japan and the National Petroleum Trade Association passed a resolution opposing the inheritance valuation method presented by the National Tax Agency.
The resolution said the method would seriously affect small and mid-sized gas station operators through higher inheritance tax burdens and obstacles to business succession.
The LDP tax commission is expected to begin full deliberations next week on drafting this year's tax reform outline.
Security documents and a resignation
Separately, the LDP has begun debating whether Japan should introduce nuclear-powered submarines, as part of work toward revising its three security documents.
The party's Obuchi has stepped down as deputy chair of the tax commission after receiving a reprimand. Former justice minister Furukawa has also left the post.