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Phantom ownership of Rolls Royce and road tax bill shocks laborer
Vehicle tax on a Rolls Royce Phantom is Rp 167 million (US$11,844) annually.
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A Rolls-Royce hood ornament and emblem. (Shutterstock/Maxim Blinkov)
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t came as a shock to construction worker Dimas Agung Prayitno, 21, to learn that the tax office has him listed as the owner of a luxury Rolls Royce Phantom, despite the fact that he lives on a small alley in Taman Sari, West Jakarta.
Agung, it turns out, is a victim of identity theft by a tax evader.
Jakarta Tax and Levy Agency (BPRD) officials visited Agung’s house on Tuesday, because tax on the Rolls Royce had not been paid. According to tax records, Agung is the registered owner of the Jakarta-registered car.
Agung has denied ownership of the car.
“I don’t have a car, Pak. It’s impossible that [someone living in] this kind of house could own a car, especially a luxury car,” Agung said on Tuesday during a visit by Jakarta BPRD and Vehicle Document Registration Center (Samsat) officials, kompas.com reported.
“But you are registered as the owner of a Rolls Royce Phantom who has not paid the taxes,” Jakarta BPRD secretary Pilar Hendrani said.
After observing Agung's humble home, the officials were convinced that Agung did not own the vehicle.
When asked if he had lent his ID card to anyone, Agung told the officials he had lent it to a former coworker in 2017. He said he never thought his ID card would be used to register a luxury car.
“A coworker borrowed my ID card, but I didn't ask what it would be used for. He was a friend so I trusted him. I just thought it was to purchase a motorcycle,” Agung said.
Agung said it was possible that the former coworker had cooperated with their employer to manipulate the car ownership.
“I never expected anything like this to happen. If you ask me where [the employer is], I don’t know because the office is no longer there. I heard that it had moved,” Agung said.
The officials decided not to pursue Agung's case, but advised him not to lend anyone his ID card as it could be misused for unscrupulous practices, such as to manipulate vehicle ownership data.
“Cases like this not only harms the government but also the victims. A KJS [Jakarta Health Card] and KJP [Jakarta Smart Card] could be canceled if the registered owner does not pay taxes,” Pilar said.
According to BPRD data, the vehicle tax on a Rolls Royce Phantom is Rp 167 million (US$11,844) annually.
“Because the tax on the Rolls Royce Phantom is Rp 167 million, we suspect that the real owner used another person’s identity because he did not want to pay the progressive tax, which also includes a 2.5 percent administrative fee of Rp 210 million,” Pilar said. (ami)
