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Today's Headlines Tax
The upstream textile industry of Indonesia urges the Fiscal Policy Office (in Indonesian: Badan Kebijakan Fiskal, or BKF) to exempt local raw materials - supplied by local manufacturers - from VAT. Redma Gita Wirawasta, Secretary General of the Indonesian Synthetic Fiber Producers Association (APSyFI), said he has discussed this proposal during several recent meetings with the BKF.
Stakeholders in Indonesia's plastics industry are not happy to see the government eager to impose an excise tax on plastic bags in the proposed 2018 state budget. Fajar Budiyono, Secretary-General of the Indonesian Olefin, Aromatic and Plastic Industry Association (Inaplas), is against the excise tax saying it will not be a solution to environmental pollution. Instead, the government should focus on enhancing plastic waste treatment.
For several years stakeholders in Indonesia's automotive industry urged the government to cut taxes on sedan sales. Finally, the government seems willing to alter its policies. The sedan is categorized as a luxury good, implying it is subject to an additional 30-40 percent luxury goods tax. This makes the sedan vehicle more expensive compared to other car types and therefore there exists less demand for the Indonesian-made sedan, both on the domestic market and international market.
Leading American online social media and social networking service Facebook will open a permanent business entity (a foreign limited liability company, in Indonesian: perseroan terbatas penanaman modal asing, or PT PMA) in Indonesia later this month. The move is in line with Indonesian government requests. Earlier, Facebook only operated a representative office in Jakarta.
Indonesia's tax authorities are planning to revise the non-taxable income regulation again in an attempt to improve the nation's low tax ratio. Last year the government of Indonesia raised non-taxable income by 50 percent from IDR 36 million (approx. USD $2,700) to IDR 54 million (approx. USD $4,060), per year, in a bid to strengthen people's purchasing power and encourage household consumption. However, considering local minimum wages vary across the country's 34 provinces, the nation-wide non-taxable income level of IDR 54 million causes some problems.
In its "war on tax evasion" Indonesia scored another victory by reaching an agreement ("Bilateral Competent Authority Agreement") with Hong Kong to share data of Indonesian taxpayers who hold accounts in the Asian wealth management hub. Indonesia's Tax Office assumes (or better: knows) there are plenty of wealthy Indonesians who take advantage of the low tax regime in Hong Kong and deliberately do not report these funds to Indonesian authorities.
According to Ken Dwijugiasteadi, Taxation Director General at Indonesia's Finance Ministry, a tax-to-GDP ratio at 11 percent would be realistic for Indonesia's 2018 state budget (but would still require big efforts from the government). In a plenary session of Indonesia's House of Representatives (DPR) earlier this week, regarding the 2018 state budget proposals, some called for a sharp increase in the tax-to-GDP ratio to 13 percent. However, considering the expected tax revenue growth, this ratio would be highly unrealistic.
The economies of Indonesia and other countries in Southeast Asia may feel the impact of US President Donald Trump's impending tax reforms. Currently markets are focused on these reforms. On Wednesday (26/04) Trump is set to propose steep cuts in US corporate taxes (from 35 percent to 15 percent) and the tax rate on offshore earnings that are repatriated (from 35 percent to 10 percent), while individual taxes will be simplified. These proposals will require US Congress approval before implementation.
After the ending of Indonesia's tax amnesty program, property players in Southeast Asia's largest economy remain optimistic that inflows of fresh funds - originating from the tax amnesty program - will give a boost to Indonesian property sector in the second half of 2017. This should then cause some momentum, meaning property developers dare to kick-start new projects. Considering weak demand for property in Indonesia over the past couple of years, many local property developers have been postponing projects.
There is concern about Indonesia's tax buoyancy. Tax buoyancy is the indicator that measures efficiency and responsiveness of revenue mobilization in response to growth in gross domestic product (GDP) or national income. While, Indonesia's GDP accelerated 5.02 percent (y/y) in 2016, the country's tax revenue realization only rose 4.2 percent (y/y) to IDR 1,104.9 trillion (approx. USD $83.1 billion). Since 2011 (when commodity prices plunged heavily) tax buoyancy has been weakening in Indonesia.
Latest Columns Tax
In the first month of 2022, we detected some positive signs, both abroad and at home (in Indonesia) as there is growing evidence that the Omicron variant is encouraging strong herd immunity around the world, while not making too many people ill to the extent that they require hospitalization.
The COVID-19 pandemic made governments around the world impose severe social and business restrictions, thus contributing heavily to the unprecedented decline in economic activity. To maintain society’s support, governments subsequently had to spend heavily on social assistance, soft loans, and various fiscal incentives to keep most businesses alive and allow poorer segments of society to have enough to eat.
It is something the central government of Indonesia has been planning and weighing for several years now, but the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis seems to have sped up the efforts. Per 1 July 2020, the Indonesian government imposes a 10 percent value-added tax (VAT) on sales of imported digital products and services.
E-commerce – which refers to the activity of electronically buying (or selling) products through online services or over the Internet – has been developing rapidly in Indonesia over the past decade. More and more Indonesians have started to shop online, forcing many offline retail players to adapt and innovate their business models in order to survive in this new and challenging environment where two newcomers, both tech startups and both e-commerce platforms, have developed into a unicorn (Tokopedia and Bukalapak) which is a startup that is valued above USD $1 billion.
It came as a big surprise to us. Only three days before the new and somewhat controversial e-commerce tax regulation would come into effect, Indonesia’s Finance Ministry decided to delay its execution.
More and more processes are being shifted online as this, generally, allows processes to become more efficient and easier to complete. This also applies to Indonesia's tax office. Over the past couple of years, tax can be filed online by legal entities and individuals. However, before an individual of company can file the tax online, he - or it - first needs to obtain an Electronic Filing Identification Number (EFIN).
Tax is not everybody’s favourite topic of conversation. Nonetheless, it is a crucial subject both for the legal entity and the individual as various taxes need to be filed to authorities. Trying to escape from paying (higher) taxes is a risky affair and can lead to serious sanctions. Similarly, innocent mistakes can also cause problems with tax officials and therefore is it advised to invest some time in understanding the tax system. This advice particularly applies to those who move to different jurisdictions – to work and/or live - as tax regulations may not be the same as the regulations in their home country.
While reforms related to Indonesia’s corporate income tax rates remain in the planning stage, there is a new important regulation that will come into effect per 1 April 2019. Through Finance Ministry Regulation No. 210/PMK.010/2018 on the Taxation of Trade Transactions through Electronic System or E-commerce, which was signed on 31 December 2018, Indonesia will require e-commerce merchants (sellers) to share data with tax authorities and pay VAT and income taxes.
Investors are awaiting a series of fiscal incentives from the Indonesian government, including a new tax holiday. Meanwhile, investors also urge the government to improve the investment and business climate by simplifying the process and procedures to obtain permits for investment projects. This also includes improving the coordination between central and regional authorities, for example through the integration of the permitting process at both levels.
Indonesia's Directorate General of Taxes claims that tax revenue realization in Indonesia will grow by a double-digit figure (on a year-on-year basis) in January 2018. This result comes on the back of strengthening commodity prices that bring in more tax money for the government.
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