The head of a suprapartisan council on social security has presented an interim draft on a proposed cut in the consumption tax rate for food as a measure to help cushion the impact of inflation as well as related measures.

The draft, unveiled Wednesday by Itsunori Onodera, chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party¡¯s Research Commission on the Tax System, calls for reducing the tax rate to 1% for food for two years starting April 2027.

In addition, a finely tailored cash benefit program that is linked to income levels and is equivalent to the amount of revenue from a 1% consumption tax rate for food will be introduced in fiscal 2027 in order to effectively reduce the tax rate to zero for food items, according to the draft.