According to Okinawa National Tax Agency, the total tax receipts in the prefecture in fiscal 2015 were ¥336.531 billion, which is 11.5% or ¥34.805 billion higher than the year before and the highest ever.

Almost every category of tax receipts rose. Especially, the corporate tax receipts totaled ¥11.142 billion more than in 2014, an increase of 23.0 percent. The consumption tax also brought in significantly more, rising by 22.0% or ¥20.379 billion from the previous year, which reflects the strong corporate performance in the prefecture.

The tax receipts have been rising for seven consecutive years, and specifically, during the last two years the growth rate has been in double figures.

Comparing the ratio of direct and indirect taxes, the direct taxes that include income, corporation, and inheritance taxes constituted 49.4% of all taxes paid, while the indirect taxes that include the consumption and liquor taxes were 50.6% of the total. The indirect taxes brought in more than direct taxes for the first time.

Regarding direct taxes by category, the income withholding tax totaled ¥63.414 billion, an increase of 3.6%, while the self-employed paid ¥31.842 billion in income tax that is 10.3% more than previous year. 23.0% more were collected in corporate taxes than in fiscal 2015 totaling ¥54.649 billion, and ¥10.987 billion was collected in inheritance tax, an increase of 1.4%.

Among indirect taxes, the consumption tax brought in ¥112.915 billion that is 22.0% more than in 2014, liquor tax totaled ¥10.587 billion that was 0.7% more. Tobacco tax brought in ¥8.747 billion that was 13.2% more. One reason for the increase was cigarettes that are so-called “ex-third-grade,” brands like “Uruma” and “Violet” saw a spike in demand before April this year when their special tax rate was raised and the price per pack rose accordingly.

According to Okinawa National Tax Agency, the rose in the tax receipts was partly due to the increase in consumption tax, but they attribute it also to the good economy in Okinawa that has boosted the receipts of the consumption and corporation taxes.

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