The government and the ruling parties are considering reducing the tax burden on farmers and corporations when they buy and sell farmland in the 12 municipalities near Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
The aim is to consolidate the land owned by people who have given up farming due to such reasons as evacuation from the prefecture or aging, and increase the profitability of agriculture by expanding the scale of operations.
The specific measures will be included in tax revisions for fiscal 2021.
In the 12 targeted municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture, about 17,300 hectares of farmland, or 2.7 times the area inside the Yamanote Line, was abandoned as a result of the nuclear accident in 2011. As of the end of March this year, planting and harvesting had resumed on only 30% of this farmland.
This is likely because the population of the 12 municipalities is much smaller than before the nuclear disaster, and many farmers have given up farming due to the negative impact of rumors about Fukushima-grown crops.
As a specific tax measure, a proposal is being considered to deduct up to 20 million yen from profit from the sale of farmland, to reduce the income tax and corporate tax paid by sellers.
At the same time, the real estate acquisition tax to be borne by the buyer would be reduced by deducting one-third of the acquisition price from the taxable assessed value of the property. This would be limited to cases where the buyer would use the land as farmland, and it would require prefectural approval in advance.
The target area will exclude areas that are difficult to return to, such as those near the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
The government and the ruling coalition aim to not only make effective use of fallow land through these measures, but also to consolidate farmland to improve production efficiency.
Companies and others outside Fukushima Prefecture have reportedly told the government that they would like to participate in agriculture if there was a large amount of farmland available over a wide area.
The government is also considering assigning personnel to coordinate with farmers in 12 cities, towns and villages and providing subsidies for the development of processing plants for harvested crops. The Reconstruction Agency has requested about 5.5 billion yen in its estimated budget for fiscal 2021.
Many displaced farmers have expressed a desire to rent out their farmland rather than sell it.
In the tax revisions for fiscal 2021, the government is planning to adjust the tax code to reduce the property tax for the owners of farmland, even if they lease it out to intermediary farmland management institutions in prefectures across Japan.
The government expects its moves to increase the size of farmland to attract companies looking to enter agriculture and encourage migration. A senior official at the Reconstruction Agency said, "Fukushima's agriculture has a chance to grow again."
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