食料品の消費税がゼロに？

Welcome to Japanese Daily News. I'm Maya. Today is May twenty-sixth. Today's story is big: the Japanese government wants to cut the sales tax on food all the way down to zero. This affects everyone who eats in Japan. Let's listen.

Let's break it down.

The opening line.

The Japanese government announced a plan to make the sales tax on food zero percent. Let's look at the key words.

Food products, groceries. This covers rice, vegetables, snacks. Anything you eat.

Consumption tax. Japan calls its sales tax this way. Right now it's ten percent on most things.

Policy or plan. When the government uses this word, it means they've decided on a direction but haven't passed a law yet.

The current situation.

A reduced tax rate of eight percent is being applied to food products.

Reduced tax rate. The first part means reduction. The second part means tax rate. Together: a lightened tax rate.

Why does this matter?

Prices have gone up, and people's daily lives have become difficult.

Price level. Not the price of one item, but prices in general. Very common in news about economics.

Tough, painful, difficult. Used for physical pain, but also financial hardship.

A concrete example.

An onigiri that cost one hundred and eight yen will become one hundred yen. Eight yen doesn't sound like much, but it adds up across every grocery trip.

Until now. A time expression you'll use constantly. It marks the before in a before-and-after comparison.

But there's a catch.

However, alcohol and eating out are excluded.

However. This is the formal version. In news and official documents, you'll always hear this word.

Outside the scope, excluded. Remove the last character and it means target or covered. So only groceries you take home are included.

And the opposition had something to say.

The opposition parties say they should lower all consumption tax, not just on food.

Should do. It expresses a strong opinion. Very common in news and editorials.

Let's listen to the full story one more time.

Quiz time. Three questions.

What is the current sales tax on food? Eight percent. The plan is to take it to zero.

Is alcohol included? No. It's excluded.

How many years will this tax cut last? Two years.

Vocabulary recap.

Food products, groceries.

Consumption tax.

Reduced tax rate.

Price level.

Tough, difficult.

However.

Excluded.

That's today's Japanese Daily News. Full transcript with furigana at podcast.jpnotes.dev. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. See you tomorrow.