Discussed at the Government Tax Commission on expansion of “NISA”

At the meeting on the 4th, the Government Tax Commission discussed the expansion of the tax incentive system "NISA" that supports individual asset management.

Members of the committee expressed the opinion that the system should be revised to make it easier for the younger generation to use, and some pointed out that it should not be a preferential treatment for the wealthy.

"NISA" is a tax exemption system for individual investors on profits from the sale of stocks, investment trusts, etc. and dividends within a certain amount. increase.

At the government's tax research committee held on the 4th, the theme of income tax was discussed, and a Ministry of Finance official discussed the expansion of the

NISA

: He explained that

raising the upper limit of the amount that can be purchased is an

issue to be considered.

Regarding this, members of the committee

expressed the opinion that the tax-exempt holding period should be extended to make it easier for the younger generation to make use of it

. It was also pointed out that this might be the case.

Regarding the NISA system, it is expected that concrete consideration will be advanced toward the end of this year, mainly by the ruling party's tax research committee.

Chairman of the Government Tax Commission "It is my role to sort out various problems"

At a press conference after the meeting, Minoru Nakazato, chairman of the Government Tax Commission, said, "Those who have ample funds should use NISA to prepare for their old age. On the other hand, the younger generation I think there are many people who have a difficult life and cannot afford to save money.I think the role of the government tax commission is to sort out these various problems."

What is NISA?

“NISA” is a tax incentive system created to support individual asset management.

If you open a NISA account, you will be exempted from taxes such as gains and dividends on the sale of stocks and investment trusts purchased within a certain amount each year.

Among them, the “general NISA”, which started in 2014, has a maximum annual purchase amount of 1.2 million yen, such as investment trusts and stocks, and can be held tax-free for a maximum of 5 years.

On the other hand, “Tsumitate NISA” can only be invested in certain investment trusts, with a maximum purchase amount of 400,000 yen per year, and can be held tax-free for a maximum of 20 years.

According to the Financial Services Agency, as of the end of December last year, there

were 12.47 million accounts for "general NISA"

and 5.18 million accounts for "tsumitate NISA",

with a total account balance of 11.8 trillion yen. I'm here.

Both are special measures with a time limit, and the deadline for investment is

▽ “General NISA” until 2028

▽ “Tsumitate NISA” until 2042.

In response, the Financial Services Agency requested in August to abolish the investment deadline and make the system permanent, as well as to make the period that can be held tax-free indefinitely.

“NISA” and the Kishida administration’s “asset income doubling plan”

The reason why "NISA" attracted attention was the "asset income doubling plan" launched by the Kishida administration.

In Japan, household financial assets amount to 2,000 trillion yen, of which more than half is accounted for by bank deposits.

Based on this situation, the aim of the new plan is to create a flow from savings to investment, revitalize the market, and increase household income.

On September 22nd, Prime Minister Kishida delivered a speech at the New York Stock Exchange, saying, "Only 10% of Japan's personal financial assets are invested in stocks. We will double our asset income and develop long-term assets for our old age." In order to make the formation possible, it is essential to make the small investment tax exemption system for individuals permanent," he said, emphasizing the need to make NISA permanent.

Among the enhancements to the NISA, the "permanence" of the NISA, which removes restrictions on the period during which investments can be made, has been proposed by the Financial Services Agency four times to request revisions to the tax system from fiscal 2017 to fiscal 2020, but none of them has been approved. .

However, this time, in response to the expansion of the NISA being positioned as a pillar of the Kishida administration's "asset income doubling plan," the Financial Services Agency fundamentally overhauled the system, and in August, a new system was introduced in response to a tax reform request for next fiscal year. I have summarized the proposal.

The slogan of the new system is to make it simple, easy to understand, and user-friendly.

Each NISA has different investment periods, annual investment limits, investment products, etc., and some say that they are "complicated and difficult to understand."

For this reason, when designing the system, based on the "Tsumitate NISA", which has many users especially among the younger generation, we added a new "growth investment quota" that allows investment in the stocks of listed companies, etc., like the general NISA. set up.

Then, after making the system permanent, we are now asking for an indefinite period of tax-exempt holding and raising the annual purchase amount and cumulative purchase amount limit.

Another point is how much the upper limit amount will be expanded in future tax reforms.

This is because if it expands too much, it may invite criticism that it is "preferring the rich."

Regarding this, officials of the Ministry of Finance, which has jurisdiction over the tax system, and the tax system research committee of the ruling party said, "Even if the upper limit is expanded, the wealthy will receive even more preferential treatment, and the original purpose of the system, which is the stable asset building of households. There is also a cautious opinion that it is not suitable for

The NISA system is expected to be considered by the end of this year at the tax research committee of the ruling party, which discusses specific tax systems.