10 votes

Japan's Hometown Tax

Tags: japan, taxes

3 comments

  1. [3]
    Deimos
    Link
    This is an interesting article that describes a tax policy that seems to have been made with fairly good intentions, and ended up being co-opted. I had never heard of this before, but I think it's...

    This is an interesting article that describes a tax policy that seems to have been made with fairly good intentions, and ended up being co-opted. I had never heard of this before, but I think it's a fascinating display of how incentives and other aspects can end up corrupting a system.

    2 votes
    1. [2]
      demifiend
      Link Parent
      Maybe it isn't being used exactly as intended, but the way municipalities outside Tokyo bid for a cut of Tokyo residents' tax doesn't seem all that corrupt to me. It certainly doesn't seem as...

      Maybe it isn't being used exactly as intended, but the way municipalities outside Tokyo bid for a cut of Tokyo residents' tax doesn't seem all that corrupt to me. It certainly doesn't seem as dirty as a US corporation demanding that cities compete for the privilege of hosting a new location by offering the lowest possible tax/regulatory burden.

      4 votes
      1. Deimos
        Link Parent
        I think "corruption" was probably a poor word choice on my part. I meant it more in the "tainted" manner than the "political corruption" one. The original intent and purpose of the policy has been...

        I think "corruption" was probably a poor word choice on my part. I meant it more in the "tainted" manner than the "political corruption" one. The original intent and purpose of the policy has been tainted by ways to manipulate the system.

        2 votes