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Opinion

Loophole Products

By SCOTT T. HARDS


隙間商品

隙間商品 規制の厳しい日本社会では、その税制が 独特の商品を生み出すことがある。 発泡酒と軽自動車がそのいい例だ。 先日、発泡酒の酒税増税の試みが話題を呼んだが、 税制によって質が劣る商品が生まれるのは どうだろうかと思う。

In Japan's over-regulated society, one occasionally encounters products that you cannot find elsewhere. No, this is not because of the unique tastes of the Japanese consumer. Rather, it's because of odd taxes and regulations that sometimes give birth to truly wacky things.

Consider this: Proud breweries working hard to create new "beers" they know do not taste as good as products already on the market.

I'm talking about happoshu, the vastly-popular, low-priced malt beverages marketed by all of Japan's major breweries. Since their ingredients don't meet the government's definition of beer, they can be sold without beer taxes, making them 30-40 percent cheaper. However, the Ministry of Finance created a stir recently when it considered raising the taxes on these pseudo-beers.

Many criticized the government of stifling corporate creativity, saying that this action would waste the company's efforts to create a product that so neatly fit through a tax code loophole. But closing loopholes and boosting revenue is the job of any good government tax official.

Alcoholic beverages should simply be taxed on a sliding scale based on their alcohol content, not on what they are made from. That would let brewers focus their efforts on making the best beer possible, rather than trying to shove an inferior concoction through tax loopholes.

If these beverages were an improvement on beer, I would probably buy them frequently and these new taxes might bother me. But they are not, and the taxes do not. I've tried most of them, and frankly, they represent a giant step backward in the history of brewing.

The actual words I'd like to use to describe their flavor (with the exception of "water") are not printable in a family publication like this, so I'll leave it up to your imagination. Give me a lightly-chilled Guinness any day!

Consider this: A 660cc car engine with a turbocharger.

What? A turbocharger is used to boost engine power. But 660cc is a tiny engine to begin with. You cannot even buy an engine smaller than 1,000cc in the U.S. Why not just use a larger engine if you need more power?

I'm talking about Japan's keijidousha, or light cars. Regulations require them to have engines smaller than 660cc and also impose size and weight rules. These cars are very popular due to their low tax and insurance costs. They also enjoy a 20 percent reduction in tolls on most expressways. In fact, it's because of this that I drive one to work everyday, as I commute on the expressway. But why even distinguish between "light" cars and regular cars at all? A 1,000cc engine generally has more power, costs less and gets better gas mileage than a turbocharged 660cc engine. Weight restrictions also make these light cars more dangerous in an accident than regular vehicles. The government should simply tax vehicles on a sliding scale based on engine size and drop this arbitrary "light vehicle" class altogether. Makers should be free to create the best car they can, with any engine size, and not have to worry about regulations made obsolete by advances in technology.

While lower taxes are wonderful, situations like these are creating products that are clearly inferior. Much progress has been made in deregulating Japan's economy, but when the tax laws, and not engineers, are designing products, it's a sign we still have a ways to go.


Shukan ST: January 5, 2001

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