State suffers losses from unpaid import taxes<\/p>\n
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Each year the state suffers an average loss of Rp 8 trillion
\n(US$909 million) in revenue from customs duties and import taxes,
\nan official at the Directorate General of Customs and Excise
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
This annual loss is twice the amount of the Rp 4 trillion
\nbudgeted for 2003 to help the poor survive this week's increase
\nin fuel prices and electricity rates.<\/p>\n
The head of arrears collection at the directorate, Nirwala Dwi
\nHeriyanto, told The Jakarta Post on Friday that in 2001 and 2002
\nthe total duty and tax arrears reached Rp 17 trillion.<\/p>\n
In 2002, that figure has been roughly calculated at about Rp 8
\ntrillion.<\/p>\n
"We are dealing with a serious problem of lost state revenue
\nhere; this is a significant figure," said Nirwala, adding that
\nthe directorate had designed a set of measures to collect the
\narrears beginning in April.<\/p>\n
The losses, however, have not affected the state budget
\nbecause the largest contributor to customs and excise revenue is
\nthe cigarette excise.<\/p>\n
Nirwala said the losses were caused by importers who underpaid
\ntheir tax obligations during the clearance process.<\/p>\n
Indonesia uses a self-assessment tax system.<\/p>\n
Nirwala said the customs office was usually unable to catch
\nthe importers because they often used fake documents to establish
\ntheir identities and addresses.<\/p>\n
Many importers cheat on the self-assessment system by
\nundervaluing their import duties and import taxes before clearing
\ntheir goods.<\/p>\n
The importers then pay the artificially low taxes and duties
\nbased on their self-assessment reports as a formality to clear
\ntheir goods.<\/p>\n
After claiming their goods the importers quickly vanish to
\navoid being charged later by customs officials for underpayment.<\/p>\n
This situation is exacerbated by some customs officials who
\nare believed to collude with the importers to claim their goods.<\/p>\n
There also are indications that customs officials assigned to
\ncollect tax and duty arrears have taken bribes to end their
\nefforts. The arrears should be paid by importers at least 60 days
\nafter they receive a notice of underpayment.<\/p>\n
"The fact is that the arrears we are going to collect date
\nback to 2000. We are still investigating why our collection
\nofficials failed to collect such a huge amount of arrears," said
\nNirwala.<\/p>\n
Nirwala also said some crooked importers managed to obtain
\nimport licenses by colluding with officials at the Ministry of
\nTrade and Industry.<\/p>\n
Until December of last year, the ministry was the only
\ninstitution authorized to issue licenses to importers. However,
\ndue to several irregularities the Ministry of Finance passed a
\nnew regulation obliging importers to obtain a second license from
\nthe Directorate General of Customs and Excise.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Finance oversees this directorate.<\/p>\n
To combat crooked importers and to help collect the tax and
\nduty arrears, the ministry will issue a new ministerial decree on
\narrears prevention and publicly announce the 100 largest
\ncorporate evaders of import taxes and duties.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/state-suffers-losses-from-unpaid-import-taxes-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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