Japan fails to boost wages with tax break

TOKYO -- Japan launched a tax incentive aimed at boosting wages a decade ago, but the measure has mostly failed as about 60% of smaller businesses are in the red and thus ineligible. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida seems eager to include a plan to expand the program in fiscal 2024 tax reforms to be worked out by the government and the ruling coalition by the end of the year.

"We will return the fruits of growth, such as increased tax revenue, to the public," Kishida said in September, referring to a stimulus package to be put together as early as this month. While the government has yet to sort out which taxes to cut, incentives to promote pay hikes appear high on the agenda.