JAPAN: Tax exemption to be sought on investment income for elderly

. Japan's Regulator to Seek Tax Break for Elderly, Nikkei Reports By Oliver Biggadike TOKYO (Bloomberg), August 23, 2008: Japan's Financial Services Agency will propose as early as this month a tax exemption on investment income for the elderly, the Nikkei newspaper reported. The regulator aims to exempt from capital gains tax the first 5 million yen ($46,000) of profit from share price increases and 1 million yen from dividends, the report said, without stipulating an age threshold for exemptions or saying where the information was obtained. Other investors may also receive the tax bread on dividends, it said. Financial Services Minister Toshimitsu Motegi is trying to boost Tokyo's competitiveness as a financial center to fulfill a mandate from Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda to make the nation's markets comparable to those in New York and London. Motegi said on Aug. 6 he's considering lowering corporate taxes. Oliver Biggadike, Tokyo obiggadike@bloomberg.net Copyright 2008 Bloomberg L.P.