Japanese government is set to offer a special child benefit worth ¥10,000 to households all across the nation who have children aged 15 or younger. The special child benefit will be given in order to offset the consumption tax increase to 8 percent.
The country’s health, labor and welfare minister said that the one-time cash handout is the government’s attempt to soften the impact of the tax increase which will become effective on Tuesday, April 1, 2014. Other measures will include a one-time cash handout worth ¥10,000o which will be given to every member of the household which is excluded from residential taxes at the moment. Moreover, an additional ¥5,000 will be given to pensioners who are older than 65.
The ministry also clarified that one-time handouts differ from the monthly child allowances given to families with a certain income. For instance, a Japanese household with two children will not be eligible for the handout if one parent has an annual income of more than ¥9.6 million. Those parties who are eligible must apply to the municipal government in order to get the new handout.
An official from the Equal Employment, Children and Families Bureau said that the application deadline for the benefit is left to each municipality to decide. The official went on to explain that the application period must be between three to six months.
Photo Credits: CBC
