Source: 2010 state budget
The government’s 2009 tax revenue showed a minor fall due to the global economic downturn, in contrast to significant annual increases in the previous four years.
Tax revenue as of the end of December reached Rp 556.77 trillion (US$59.57 billion), down by 0.93 percent from Rp 571.1 trillion in 2008, equivalent to 98 percent of the target set by the government.
The government recorded an average tax revenue growth of 23 percent for the 2005-2008 period before the negative growth in 2009.
Tax office chief Mochamad Tjiptardjo, however, argued that the minor 0.93 percent drop was not so bad as the crisis had hit other nations’ economies very hard including EU countries, US and Japan.
“The deceleration in the domestic economy was mostly due to external factors as the crisis slowed international trade. As a result, income tax dropped quite significantly,” he told a press conference.
Import taxes, for example, declined by 24 percent to Rp 19 trillion from Rp 25 trillion recorded in 2008.
Despite the negative growth in overall tax revenues, value-added tax (PPN) and property taxes (PBB) exceeded their targets.
Collections from PPN reached Rp 214.35 trillion, reaching 5.55 percent above target, while PBB contributed Rp 24.27 trillion to the state, 1.71 percent higher than targeted.
Despite the lower tax revenue, Tjiptardjo said that the government had succeeded in increasing the number of registered tax payers.
“There were only 10.68 million registered tax payers in 2008. By the end of 2009, we recorded 15.91 million registered tax payers, representing an increase of 48.97 percent,” he said.
Tjiptardjo said that, to show its seriousness in improving tax collection, the government had implemented sanctions against 516 tax officials who had violated regulations.
In 2009 the tax office had completed investigations into 35 suspected tax fraud cases estimated to have caused Rp 489 billion in state losses.
In 2008, government had probed 35 tax cases estimated to have caused Rp 1.54 trillion in state losses.
Tjiptardjo said that the government was optimistic tax revenue would rebound significantly this year as a result of the economic recovery as well as ongoing tax reform and increased people’s awareness on paying tax.
“Mapping, profiling and benchmarking methods will soon be fully integrated with the office’s information technology system to minimize tax evasion,” he said.
According to the 2010 state budget, the government is targeting to gain Rp 715.53 trillion from tax this year, up by 28.51 percent from estimated tax revenue in 2009.
Manufacturing industry is expected to contribute more to next year’s tax revenue, amounting to Rp 158.6 trillion in the form of income tax and value-added tax. (bbs)
| 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|