Forest Environmental Taxes at Multi-Layer National and Prefectural Levels:

Comparisons of 37 Prefectures Survey Results in Japan

Abstract

The year 2019 marked the first year of introducing the national forest environment transfer tax. The forest environment transfer tax scheme is mainly for the forest management in municipalities but it affects forest policy at the prefectural level, because (1) 37 prefectures having a prefectural forest environment tax need to explain the differences between the national level tax and their prefectural level taxes, and (2) the national level tax is allocated to prefectures to support municipalities. We analyzed the 37 prefectures to identify the influence of introducing the national tax, conducting a questionnaire survey and interview with the staff members of the prefectures. The results show that the policies to support municipalities to implement survey of forest owners’ awareness and expectations will be conducted relatively intensively. Regarding the prefectural ordinances, one prefecture has changed its ordinance to avoid duplication of policies implemented by the revenue of the national tax and its prefectural tax.