A large number of taxpayers in Bali have not submitted tax return forms to the tax office despite the nearing March 31 deadline an official says.
Tax return forms are documents that should be completed by taxpayers and filed with the tax office to determine the amount of income tax an individual must pay.
As of now, only 22 percent of around 400,000 taxpayers in the province had returned the forms, said head of the Bali branch of the directorate general of taxation, Yoyok Satiomo.
"We admit that many taxpayers remain unaware about the need to submit the forms. The public lack an understanding on tax issues," Yoyok said.
He said that his office targeted to collect the forms from more than half of the total taxpayers on the island.
"Last year, only 48.5 percent collected the tax return forms. And this year, we target that more than 50 percent of taxpayers will submit the forms."
Taxpayers who do not return the annual form by the end of this month should pay a fine, he said, adding that his office had imposed fines on those who failed to submit the form last year.
"And those who do not pay tax on purpose could face a maximum of two years in prison," he stressed.
Yoyok said that he was also concerned about low awareness on paying tax, given that there are only 400,000 taxpayers in the province, comprising of individuals and enterprises.
The tax law stipulates that those whose incomes are more than Rp 15,850,000 annually should pay income tax.
According to the office's data, this group accounts for more than 70 percent of the total working people.
Data from the provincial Manpower and Transmigration Agency showed that the number of working people in the province as of Dec. 1, 2009, reached 2,728,747 people.
"Many of the employed in Bali still do not have a taxpayers registration code *NPWP*. We continue to campaign to raise awareness," Yoyok said.
To raise public awareness and so they submit tax return forms and obtain the NPWP, the Bali tax office will set up tax booths at several shopping malls in Denpasar.
"We will establish the booths to ease people to handle tax matters.
"Taxpayers can visit the booth to submit tax return forms and register to get the NPWP," Yoyok said.
Despite the taxpayers' low awareness, tax revenue last year reached Rp 3.15 trillion (US$344,450,520) higher than the Rp 2.9 trillion targeted by the tax office.
This year, the tax office has targeted to collect Rp 3.2 trillion in tax revenue and net 50,000 new taxpayers.
