The Act on Forest Environment Tax and Forest Environment Concession Tax was passed in March 2019.

A provisional translation of the text of the act is posted on this site -> click here.

As a result, a "Forest Environment Tax" (levied on citizens as a national tax from FY2024) and a "Forest Environment Concession Tax" (transferred from the national government to local governments from FY 2019) were established.

(Background and Objectives of Creation of the Forest Environment Tax)

The public interest functions of forests not only prevent global warming, but also provide a wide range of benefits to the people of Japan, such as land conservation and the recharging of water resources. The issue is how to deal with the situation.

Under these circumstances, based on the Forest Management Act enacted in May 2018, the Forest Environment Tax was established from the viewpoint of securing stable local financial resources necessary for forest development to achieve Japan's greenhouse gas emission reduction targets under the framework of the Paris Agreement and to prevent disasters.

(Structure of the Forest Environment Tax and Forest Environment Concession Tax)

Please refer to Fig1

The "Forest Environment Tax" will be levied and collected by municipalities as a national tax of 1,000 yen per person per year starting in FY2024, using the framework of the per capita levy of the individual inhabitant tax.

In addition, the "forest environment concession tax" will be transferred to municipalities and prefectures from FY2019, using borrowings in the special account for tax grants and concession tax distribution, in order to respond to the urgent issue of forest improvement, taking into consideration the timing of the introduction of the "forest management management system". The concessions are proportionally distributed based on objective criteria such as population.

English translation of the text is underway and will be posted in this page when completed.

（G policy>FETAX)