A

month before year-end, the tax revenues have reached 90 percent of the 2011 target, while hopes for additional revenue from the national tax census appear unlikely, tax officials say.

As of Nov. 30, revenues from domestic taxation totaled Rp 694.93 trillion (US$77.1 million), about 90 percent of the Rp 763.67 trillion targeted by the tax office for this year, up 20.4 percent from the same period last year, or “far higher than the average growth rate” of 12.2 percent, spokesman Dedi Rudaedi said.

The government may not be able to reach its goal of spending Rp 1,320.75 trillion, given low budget disbursements, especially in capital spending for infrastructure projects.

Therefore, if income from tax and government debt issuance falls short of expectations, the budget deficit would drop to between 1.6 percent and 1.7 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) by year-end, versus the official target of 2.1 percent, Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo previously said.

Economists attributed the jump in tax income to a rapidly growing economy that has boosted taxable corporate profits.

“The largest components of tax revenue were individual and corporate income taxes and value-added taxes. If taxes increase, it means individual and corporate incomes improve and taxable income increases, too,” Bank Mandiri chief economist Destry Damayanti said.

“Economic growth of 6.5 percent in 2011 explains why tax revenues have significantly increased.”

The government’s efforts also helped, according to Destry.

Further, Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo, who oversees the tax office, pledged to actively collect taxes from delinquent taxpayers by publicly announcing names in the media and banning them from going overseas.

The tax office has also launched the nation’s first-ever national tax census program to extend the number of taxpayers, reaching out to 1.5 million people since its launch at the end of September.

However, director general of taxation Fuad Rahmany said the number of taxpayers listed by the office in the census might not meet the initial target and, instead, slide to 900,000 people, given difficulties in implementation, due to human resources and facility issues.

Domestic tax revenues comprise the lion’s share of Indonesia’s state income, at 65.27 percent of overall state revenues or Rp 1,169.91 trillion for 2011. Total income from taxes was Rp 878.69 trillion, with the remaining Rp 115.02 trillion in the form of excise and import and export duties.