Tax System Research Council - Tax System Research Council

An advisory body that investigates and deliberates basic issues related to the tax system in response to inquiries from the Prime Minister. It is abbreviated as Tax Commission. Since 1962, it was permanently established in the former Prime Minister's Office, but since January 2001, it has been part of the Cabinet Office. The Tax Commission is composed of up to 30 members consisting of representatives from various fields and academic experts, but when necessary to investigate and deliberate special or specialized issues, it can appoint a number of special or expert members. In addition to making recommendations on tax reforms every fiscal year, it prepares mid-term reports on the direction of future tax reforms every three years.

The Liberal Democratic Party also has an organization with the same name, the Tax System Research Council, and to distinguish between the two, the former is sometimes called the Government Tax Commission and the latter the LDP Tax Commission. In recent years, the LDP Tax Commission has in fact often formulated the annual tax reform bill, and the Ministry of Finance (now the Ministry of Finance) bill that is consulted on to the Government Tax Commission is also created to reflect this, and it has been said for a long time that the authority of the Government Tax Commission has declined. However, with the normalization of coalition governments, the generational change within the LDP Tax Commission, and the movement toward tax reform led by the Prime Minister's Office, its influence has also been fading.

[Tetsuya Hitosugi and Toru Haneda]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

内閣総理大臣の諮問に応じて税制に関する基本的事項を調査審議する諮問機関。税調と略称される。1962年（昭和37）以降、旧総理府に常設されていたが、2001年（平成13）1月から内閣府の所属となった。税制調査会は、各界の代表者および学識経験者からなる30人以内の委員によって構成されるが、特別の事項あるいは専門の事項を調査審議するために必要がある場合には、若干名の特別委員あるいは専門委員を置くことができる。毎年度の税制改正に関する答申のほか、3年に一度、将来の税制改正の方向に関する中期答申を作成している。

　なお、自由民主党にも税制調査会という同名の機関が設けられており、両者を区別して、前者を政府税調、後者を自民党税調とよぶこともある。昨今、毎年の税制改正案は事実上自民党税調が策定することが多く、また政府税調へ諮問される大蔵省（現財務省）案もそれを反映してつくられ、政府税調の権威低下がいわれて久しい。しかしながら、連立政権の常態化や自民党税調内の世代交代、さらに官邸主導による税制改革への動きなどにより、その影響力も薄れてきている。

［一杉哲也・羽田　亨］

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