Japan to double consumption tax (10%) over the next few years

[Cedille]

This is a FYI post, but the Diet has approved a law that will raise the current 5% consumption tax to 8% in 2014, and 10% in 2015. Which means the prices of pretty much everything released from business owners who sell ten-million yen per year will be slightly increased in 2014, and then again in 2015 (unless it's out-of-print by then). Maybe it will bring some confusion, or lots of workload to modify tons of albums on the database, but I remember we already have some albums that were released around the past tax raise point (1989, 1997) and have flexibly handled them (or just given up being so anal).

Ideally, we should submit only tax-less prices, because it makes the tax increase so easy for us take up. It makes more sense, considering anybody who lives outside of Japan and is trying to import stuff shouldn't be charged this tax at all. However, it would impose a heavy burden on each submitter, since tax-less prices aren't always printed on scan or provided by shops, and it's unrealistic to expect we could modify all of our submissions that have taxed prices. So, I guess we can only stop being picky with prices anymore.