Gasoline tax "wasted on road building"

The gasoline tax has emerged as the central point of contention in the policy debate on the budget for the next fiscal year. Costlier crude oil has pushed the average price of regular gasoline above 150 yen ($1.44) per liter, up 20 yen from a year ago.

Consumers, however, actually pay much more in tax on gasoline than the price increase.

The gasoline tax is one of the revenue sources that can be used only for road construction. Consumers pay 54 yen of tax for each liter of gasoline they buy.