The Jakarta Post
The government plans to unify regional taxes and impose fiscal punishments on regional administrations whose bylaws are not in line with the national policy in a bid to attract investment. Finance Ministry Fiscal Balance Director General Astera Primanto Bhakti said the plan was part of an omnibus bill on taxation that would overhaul regional taxation as the government seeks to provide certainty to investors. “If a regional administration’s policies are not in line with the national fiscal policy then we will impose sanctions, such as by [cutting] the regional transfer amount or revoking the bylaws,” Astera said during a press briefing in Jakarta on Tuesday. “This will prevent excessive tax collection from businesses by the administrations,” he added. Several regional administrations, he went on to say, unnecessarily taxed companies for water use,...