Effects of Limiting the Number of Municipalities for Donation in the Furusato Nozei Program

Japan has a unique program called Furusato Nozei (tax payments to hometowns), which allows people to donate a portion of their taxes to their favorite municipalities in return for a gift. The program also provides a measure (called one-stop special measure) that allows donors to receive a tax deduction without filing a final tax return if they donate to five or fewer municipalities. This study verifies how this "limit constraint" measure, which sets a limit on the number of municipalities, affects donors' choices using the results of an original questionnaire survey on the use of the Furusato Nozei program in 2022. Clarifying the characteristics of donors by estimating a usage probability model, we examine the changes in donor behavior and the usage satisfaction for the program by donors facing the upper limit constraint. The analysis confirms that the limit constraint (1) suppresses the number of donation destinations and creates a clustering towards the upper limit level, (2) raises the donation amount per donation and decreases the number of municipalities receiving donations, and (3) leads to a decline in satisfaction with the program.