Govt decision to scrap VAT on certain books queried<\/p>\n
Annastashya Emmanuelle, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Businessmen in the book publishing industry questioned on
\nTuesday the government's decision to scrap the 10 percent value-
\nadded tax (VAT) on books in three categories -- education,
\nreligion and holy books -- as of March 1, 2002<\/p>\n
The owner of the Metafor publishing company, Richard Oh, asked
\nwhy the tax exemption was granted only on these three categories
\nalone, since books of all types were educational in nature.<\/p>\n
"Literature and novels, for example, also consist of
\neducational material. Why aren't they also exempted from tax?"
\nRichard, who is also the owner of QB World Books, asked.<\/p>\n
It would be wise for the government to scrap the tax on all
\nbooks in a bid to help encourage the reading habit among local
\npeople, he said.<\/p>\n
Arselan Harahap, chairman of the Indonesian Publishers'
\nAssociation (IKAPI), said on Monday that the tax exemption on the
\ndistribution of imported and domestically published books
\nbelonging to the three categories affected would reduce the price
\nof books only by an average of four percent.<\/p>\n
He urged the government to get rid of the hefty taxes
\nbeleaguering the country's publishing industry so as to enable it
\nto produce a much greater number of affordable books.<\/p>\n
A representative of one of the country's largest publishing
\ncompanies, Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia (KPG), said he hailed the
\ngovernment's decision, but was unsure about its implementation.<\/p>\n
KPG's editorial manager Pax Benedanto said he had yet to
\nreceive any notification about the new policy.<\/p>\n
"I've just learned about the decision," said Pax, adding that
\nhe was uncertain which books were classified as educational books
\nas KPG considered most of its products to be educational reading
\nmaterials.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the impact of the 10-percent VAT exemption, Pax
\nsaid that the purchasing power of Indonesian people was not
\ndirectly related to their interest in reading.<\/p>\n
"Reading also depends on family culture, habits and whether
\none finds a book readable or not," he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-decision-to-scrap-vat-on-certain-books-queried-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}