TOKYO -- Japan's Ministry of Finance is set to exempt foreign visitors from paying taxes on alcoholic beverages bought at sake breweries and wineries as early as fiscal 2017, in an effort to promote tourism outside major cities and spur consumption of Japanese sake and other goods.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has demanded that the finance ministry include the exemption in the tax system revision for fiscal 2017. The Liberal Democratic Party's Research Commission on the Tax System will make a decision on the proposal by the end of the year.
