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Taxing e-commerce not a difficult job
According to Spire research and consulting, the number of online shoppers also increased significantly from 4.6 million customers in 2013 to 8.7 million in 2016, with shopping platforms Lazada and Tokopedia leading the pack.
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According to Spire research and consulting, the number of online shoppers also increased significantly from 4.6 million customers in 2013 to 8.7 million in 2016, with shopping platforms Lazada and Tokopedia leading the pack. (Shutterstock/File)
T
his year has witnessed the downturn of several modern retailers in Indonesia. Matahari, one of the country’s major department store chains, for instance was forced to close two of its Jakarta outlets in September because of a decline in sales.
Only a month before, Ramayana, another big department store chain, closed or significantly reduced operations at its outlets in eight locations. A number of factors were thought to be the culprit, ranging from an alleged decrease in consumer purchasing power to the rise of online retailers.
This certainly is not good news for the tax office. The closure of physical stores certainly has a negative effect on tax revenues. This includes the loss of tax revenues derived from the business’s profits and from the salaries paid to their employees working in those shops. It also causes a decline in revenues from value-added tax due to a decline in the value of goods being traded.
What’s more, it may have even wider consequences as well. An immediate consequence would be a decline in income for the owner of the shopping mall where the shops were tenants, which ultimately affects its profit and hence, its tax payable. Further, as shops are closed, orders to its suppliers are reduced. This may in turn affect tax payments from those suppliers.
