Press translations [Japan]. Economic Series 0180, 1946-01-19.

Full Translation:

According to a recent investigation of the present land development situation, conducted by the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry, about 30 per cent of the projected amount of land to be reclaimed this year has been utilized. This is the beginning of a gigantic Five Year Land Development Project involving 11,500,000 chobu of land.

The projected amount of land reclamation for this year is 63,404 chobu, including 6,340 chobu of large scale farm lands, 46,556 chobu of small scale farm land, and 10,508 chobu of former military land.

The following chart shows the land development situation from November 1945 to 12 January of this year, based upon an investigation conducted by the Land Reclamation Bureau of the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry:

Thus the total reclaimed land is 16,275 chobu, or 26 per cent of the projected amount.

As for settlements, the total projected number of families, is 36,702, of which 6,213 will be settled on large scale farm land, 18,672 on small scale farm land, and 11,817 on former military land. The following is a chart of the present state of land settlement:

Thus the total number of hitherto settled families is 11,430, or 31 per cent of the total projected amount.

ECONOMIC SERIES: 180 (Continued)

ITEM 1 (Continued)

The total number of those who have settled in these areas is 33,820, consisting of 19,818 men, of whom ex-servicemen form the greater part; there are 14,002 women.

It is expected that the number will have greatly increased by the end of March, in view of the present economic condition of the mass of the people.

The greatest bottleneck at present for the smooth operation of this project is an absolute shortage of housing for these settlers. Therefore the construction of houses must be carried out simultaneously with the reclamation of land.

ITEM 2 The Three New Tax Bills - Part V - Payment of Tax - Nippon Sangyo-Keizai 17 Jan 46. Translator: J. Okamura.

Summary:

The payment of taxes in kind, instead of in cash, and postponement of tax payments will be permitted in the enforcement of the new tax. Payment in kind will be permitted in case the total amount of individual property tax and individual property increase tax exceed the designated amount (it is generally believed that the rate will be fixed at 80 per cent) of all cash, deposits and national bonds at the date of property investigation. The payment in kind will be made at the option of tax payers by offering houses, land, or other designated properties. The tax payers are also authorized to request the postponement of the tax payment for not longer than four years by mortgaging their real estate.

It is still unknown what kind of properties, other than land and houses, will be designated for payment in kind, but it is anticipated that securities also will be accepted. Since in most cases corporations do not have large sums of cash, though they have much immovable property, they will also be permitted to pay taxes in kind by offering land, buildings, and equipment.

In case corporations are unable to pay such taxes, they are also authorized to convert the amount of the tax into stocks or debentures, and pay their assigned tax at the time of the increase of their capital. This system was introduced in FRANCE last August.

The payment in kind by corporations may be postponed for a term of two years by offering their real estate as mortgage. The postponement of the corporation tax payment will be permitted only to those corporations which are to be designated by the Government. It is, however, still not decide as to what kinds of corporations will be allowed postponement. Small corporations, whose properties are not much larger than individual properties, will probably be in this category.

The payment of taxes in kind and the postponement of the payment of taxes must be reported for approval to the Government within 30 days after the assessment of the tax. The Government, if it deems it possible for corporations to pay taxes in cash or national bonds, will not permit the payment in kind or the postponement of the payment of the tax. In case properties offered in payment for taxes prove inadequate, the Government may order the change of properties or it may prohibit the payment in kind[illegible]. The payment in kind will be effected through the approval of the Individual Property Investigation Committee.

For taxes whose payment has been postponed, interest at a certain rate designated by the Finance Minister will be calculated. Postponed taxes will be collected every February and August, respectively, in the cases

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ECONOMIC SERIES: 180 (Continued)

of individual property and corporation property taxes. In case any corporation is dissolved without discharging the payment of assigned taxes; and if it has distributed its remaining assets, the liquidators and those who received the distributed property, are to assume joint responsibility to pay tax.

Miscellaneous Regulations

When tax payers are unable to pay their assigned taxes, after the property investigations, because of acts of God or other unavoidable reasons, they may ask for a discount or exemption from the tax. One of the most difficult problems in the enforcement of the new tax will be the appraisal of properties, as pointed out before. Another problem will be the seizur of properties. Positive measures will be taken in connection with the collection of cash, deposits, and unregistered bonds.

Individual reports on the amount of deposits at the time of the property appraisal will be requested for submittal within a designated period after the investigation. Bonds, debentures, and unregistered stocks are also to be reported. In reporting the amount of deposits, deposit notes, bonds, and debentures, receipts, or certificates for such securities, must be submitted at the same time to near-by banking organizations, including post offices. All such securities owned by family member are to be submitted as a whole by the head of each household.

When the banking organizations find all these statements coincide with the amounts of these bonds, or deposit pass-books, they mark every bond, deposit book et cetera, as "registered", and return them to the owners. Submittal of a rice ration certificate to certify each individual reporting will be requested at the time the report is made. Those who deposited in the names of others or non-existent persons are requested to alter such names immediately, in order to avoid future disputes. Those deposit pass-books which are not marked as registered at the time of the submitted of statements will lose their validity.

For those who hove evacuated from foreign territories, or those who were unable to report within the designated period due to unavoidable circumstances, measures will be taken to allow the postponement of the report or the recovery of their former privileges.

All such repo[illegible]must be made at the present domicile of the household, but in case deposit pass books are in other places, [illegible]because of the evacuation of families the submittal of such statements at a particular place will be admitted. Measures as to the disposal registered stocks, checks bills, postal money orders, revenue stamps, et cetera, are now under consideration. They will be treated in the same way as deposit pass-bocks.

DISTRIBUTION "X"

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