読みかじり － 軽減税率代替策 － 社説を読んでみよう 読売（11SEP15)から抜粋

Giving up on realizing reduce tax rates for being 'bothersome' too irresposible

「面倒くさい」で済まされるか

A policy that takes the easy way out by depending on handout measures would not protect people's livelihoods from the increasing burden of a future increase in the consumption tax rate.

安易な給付金のばらまきでは、今後の消費税率引き上げに伴う負担増から、国民生活を守ることはできまい。

The Finance Ministry has drafted measures to alleviate taxpayers' burdens when the consumption tax rate is raised to 10 percent.

財務省が、消費税率を１０％に引き上げる際の負担緩和策の原案をまとめた。

The ministry says a 10 percent tax should be levied on all purchased goods and consumers would later receive "benefit payments" equivalent to two percentage points of the consumption tax on food and beverages.

全品目に10%の税率を課した上で、飲食料品の購入で消費者が払った税率2%分の相当額を、後から給付するという。

Although the ministry says the idea is an alternative to a system of reduced tax rates, the proposal is fraught with flaws, and can hardly be called a convincing alternative.

財務省は軽減税率の大安と位置付けるが、欠陥だらけで、代替策とはなり得ない。

Explaining the ministry's idea, Finance Minister Taro Aso had the gall to say, "Introducing plural tax rates [reduced tax rates] would be bothersome, so we used our ingenuity to make the matter less of a problem." This is extremely irresponsible.

麻生財務相は、「複数税率（軽減税率）を入れることは面倒くさい。それを面倒くさくなようにするところが手口だ」と説明した。あまりに無責任ではないか。