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n.b. This is being described domestically as 要請, which is “ask” in the sense of “The IRS asks that you not lie on your tax return.”
by patio11 7y ago
n.b. This is being described domestically as 要請, which is “ask” in the sense of “The IRS asks that you not lie on your tax return.”
- mszkoda 7y agoAre all the schools in Japan controlled or funded in some way by the government? I'm guessing this is an "ask" to private school and the public schools have it as a direct order.
- Waterluvian 7y agoIn many parts of the world, the government still has regulatory power over private schools in many ways. I wouldn't be surprised if Japan can pretty much shut down all schools for health emergency reasons.
- buckminster 7y agoIn most parts of the world the government has authority over everything once they declare an emergency.
- anonsivalley652 7y agoDoes that really mean voluntary, strong suggestion or mostly mandatory?
- Iv 7y agoYes. (source: I live in Japan)
- Wowfunhappy 7y ago...the GP didn’t ask a yes or no question. :P
- GarrisonPrime 7y ago“Is it” was the core of the question, which can be yes/no. ;-)
- ghaff 7y agoI assume he's saying, in a tongue in cheek way, that it's ostensibly "voluntary" (but not really).
- Iv 7y agoYep. Once we asked if club activity were mandatory at the local school. We specifically asked about the mandatory aspect. The answer was "everybody does it".
- anonsivalley652 7y agoYes I did. ;-P (Face saved.)
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- anonsivalley652 7y agoSituation: :-/ Answer: Hahaha. :-P
- Danieru 7y agoSeveral years ago the Abe government "suggested" corporations issue dividends at about 30% of their profits. Now: nearly all corporations pay dividends at about 30% of profits as policy. Japan may not be reactive or proactive, but it does voluntary unity pretty well.
- tasogare 7y agoYes, this is one incredible things about the country. They might lag 10 years (or decades) on a social issue, but once a decision is taken, even radical, it will be applied in a couple of years.
- CuriousPotato 7y agoThis is interesting to me. It appears "Abenomics" coincided with the creation of the Nikkei 400, which is a selective index with preference for high-dividend-per-share equities. And your claim is correct, in 2015 average dividend-per-share for Nikkei 255 was 15%, and it has since risen to 30% But was this a short-term gimmick to encourage investment? Did it work? My understanding is that high dividend payout represent weak reinvestment and overall lower growth.
- smukherjee19 7y agoI am not a native speaker, but it seems a "要請" from the government is basically something like a government order, even though it seems "polite". For example, I see usages of "政府からのデータ要請", "request from the government to hand over data", which is well, as we know, people have to comply with. So I am guessing this wording is interpreted as an order, even though it means "request". IANAL, much less in Japan, so take it with a pinch of salt. EDIT: Seeing the other replies, I guess it can be interpreted both ways: people "listening to the advice of the government", or "government asking people listen to them". Again, IANAL.
- redbeard0x0a 7y agoThe AP article said it was a non-binding order, but they are expected to follow it.
- arbuge 7y agoThe US IRS can and will jail you if you do lie, so that might not be the best analogy.
- AndrewUnmuted 7y agoThey can jail you for a mistake, let alone a lie.
- wbl 7y agoNo, they cannot jail you for a mistake if in fact you honestly think you did everything right. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheek_v._United_States https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheek_v._United_States
- hcknwscommenter 7y agoThat's not quite right. The case you cite does support your position. But, the bar for jail time is a higher hurdle for the gov't to surmount than that. You merely have a good faith belief you did not violate the law. Therefore, if you are handling a gray area and you know the IRS could take a different position, you can still rest easy about jail time so long as you don't intentionally deceive/lie/etc. This is not legal advice
- wbl 7y agoThe IRS even has a way for you to tell them "I think the law says this".
- perl4ever 7y agoAlso, if you and they don't find a mistake for a few years, there is a statutory limitation on them even collecting money. I don't remember exactly, but it's less that I'd thought.
- smacktoward 7y agoThat was the point, it's "ask" in the sense of "we're not really asking."
- kyuudou 7y agore: IRS, they _do_ call it "voluntary compliance" after all