Correction to: Pensions, 13, 25–48

In the above paper, I stated that pension premiums are not tax-deductible in Japan. This was due to PMAC (the Promotion and Mutual Aid Corporation for Private Schools of Japan, which caters for both the state and employer-provided pensions for its members) not declaring the tax exemption in either its publications or website. It occurred to me however that PMAC is in error because Japanese tax returns clearly deduct all pension and medical insurance premiums from income before the tax is calculated. This error is due entirely to my not having to submit a tax return in the past decade or so: a return is required only if one's income exceeded 20 million yen per year, or if one had income from other sources in excess of 200,000 yen per year and the like. So I need to correct this error, but must categorically state that it has no bearing whatsoever on any aspect of the comparison of the British/Japanese pension provision systems.

The following corrections are therefore necessary:

(a) page 25, line 12 of the Abstract: delete 'and receive no tax deductions on them';

(b) page 34, column 2, at the end of the first paragraph under the heading 'PMAC', insert a new sentence: 'Although PMAC does not state so, all premiums are tax-exempted.';

(c) page 43, lines 5–6 of the 'Conclusion' section: delete 'and receive no tax deductions on them'.