44.1% of companies consider it should be implemented as scheduled, but antagonize those with negativ
- About half of companies responded, “There will be no last-minute demand.” -
Although the consumption tax rate was supposed to be raised to 10% in October 2015 according to the Revised Consumption Tax Act of 2012, the consumption tax rate increase was postponed twice, in November 2014 and June 2016. Currently, the government says that the consumption tax rate will increase to 10% in October 2019. A reduced tax rate system will also be introduced upon this consumption tax rate increase. The possibility that impacts differing from those of the past consumption tax rate increases might appear has been pointed out.
Teikoku Databank has conducted a survey on corporate attitudes toward the Consumption Tax Rate Increase. This survey was conducted in conjunction with the June 2019 TDB Trends Research.
*Survey period: June 17 – June 30, 2019, Companies Surveyed: 23,632, Valid Responses: 9,977 (Response Rate: 42.2%). It is the 6th such survey on the consumption tax rate increase following those of July 2008, July 2012, August 2013, October 2014, and October 2018.
*Details of this survey can be found on the dedicated Economic Trend Survey HP (http://www.tdb-di.com).
Survey results (Summary)
1. With respect to the consumption tax rate increase to 10%, 44.1% of companies think that it “should be implemented as scheduled.” Companies that have “negative” views about the increase in October 2019, such as “postpone,” “remain unchanged,” and “reduce” totaled 44.3%. Corporate views were polarized.
2. In terms of the impact on corporate activities, 50.8 % of companies responded, “there will be a negative impact.” By industry, the percentage of companies in “retail” was notably high at 78.4%, followed by those at over 50% in “agriculture, forestry and fisheries” (59.3%), “real estate” (54.2%), “wholesale” (53.5%), and “finance” (50.9%).
3. With respect to the response to the situation of last-minute demand, the percentage of those saying, “there is already last-minute demand” (7.4%) and those saying, “there will be last-minute demand” (23.1%) totaled 30.5%. Conversely, about half of companies responded, “there will be no last-minute demand” (48.2%).
4. 40.4% of companies say they will “respond to” the reduced tax rates. Conversely, 49.3% of companies say they “will not specifically respond to the reduced tax rates.” The percentage tended to increase as company size decreased.
Appendix
1.Research Subjects(Companies researched: 23,632; Valid responses: 9,977; Response rate: 42.2%)
2.Research Items *Business Confidence (current, in 3 months, in 6 months, in 1 year) *Business Conditions (sales, purchasing and selling unit price, inventory, capacity utilization ratio, number of employees, overtime work hours)
3.Research Period and Methodology Internet-based survey conducted June 17 – 31 2019
The explanation of the Economic Diffusion Index
Research Purpose/Researched Terms TDB Economic Trend Research (started from May 2002) is a monthly statistical survey conducted for over 20,000 nationwide corporations on their general business activities including the current condition and future outlook of the industry business performance and operating climate. The primary purpose of such a survey is to assess the current state of Japan’s economy.
Selection of the Subject Corporations Companies of all sizes in all domestic industries are eligible to participate in the survey.
DI Calculation The DI（Diffusion Index）is calculated by multiplying the number of responses for each assessment category by the number given in parentheses in the table below, to a seven-level assessment rated by companies.
An economic DI of 50 is the point separating good and bad, so a DI over 50 means “good,” and below 50 means “bad.” (The numbers are rounded off to one decimal place.) No weight is given according to a company's size, and calculations are made on the basis of “one company, one vote.”
Size Classification
