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Bekasi increases property taxes without prior notice
The Bekasi administration said it did not need to announce the land and building tax hike because citizens had the obligation to pay taxes to the city.
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A man uses a computer at the Tanah Abang tax office in Central Jakarta on Jan. 5. (Antara/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)
B
ekasi citizens are bemoaning the recent increase of the land and building tax (PBB), claiming that their tax bills had more than doubled.
Several citizens took to social media to voice their concerns, such as Dewie Fitriani, who posted on her Facebook account that her tax bill had increased by 100 percent.
“Last year it was about Rp 400,000 [US$29] and this year it is almost Rp 800,000. I was shocked because usually the tax hike every year is only about 10 percent,” Dewie wrote on Monday night.
Another resident, Shinta Permata, said her tax bill went up by more than double. “It’s okay if it increases a bit, even though this is a burden, but don’t increase it too high from Rp 400,000 to Rp 1 million,” Shinta said.
Bekasi Regional Earnings Board (Bapenda) head Aan Suhanda said the tax hike was caused by the increase of the taxable value of property (NJOP) to adjust to the market price of land in Bekasi.
“We increased it partially, not sporadically, because we are also taking note of the residents’ ability [to pay],” Aan said on Tuesday, kompas.com reported.
The NJOP increase was based on Bekasi City Bylaw No. 2/2012 and Bekasi Mayoral Regulation No. 37/2012 on land and building tax.
Aan said the highest NJOP hike was in the Jl. Ahmad Yani business center, from last year’s Rp 10 million per square meter to Rp 12.6 million this year
He said there were three categories of NJOP. For land valued less than Rp 500 million the land and building tax rate was 0.1 percent, for land valued between Rp 500 million and Rp 1 billion the rate was 0.15 percent and for land valued at more than Rp 1 billion the rate was 0.25 percent.
He said it was not unusual for some tax bills to have increased more than 100 percent from last year.
“It could be caused by an NJOP hike in their area. From a land value of Rp 500 million with only a 0.1 percent tax rate, an increase to more than Rp 500 million makes it subject to a rate of more than 0.15 percent. That’s quite high,” Aan said.
He said the Bekasi administration said it did not need to announce the land and building tax hike because citizens had the obligation to pay taxes to the city.
He said he wished the residents could understand the administration’s decision to increase the NJOP as he claimed that the tax was still affordable for the residents and the taxes would increase Bekasi city’s generated income. (ami)
