Airport operator yet to pay ad taxes

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

PT Angkasa Pura II, the operator of the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, has yet to pay its advertisement tax arrears worth Rp 200 million (US$21,505) it has owed since 2003, the Tangerang municipal administration revealed on Friday.

"According to our calculations, the state company still owes the administration Rp 200 million in billboard taxes it has collected from billboard users," Tangerang Parks Agency head Said Hendrowiyanto said on Friday.

He said Mayor Wahidin Halim had twice warned the company to pay the taxes immediately.

"This has meant the administration had failed to reach its target revenue from billboard taxes at the airport," he said.

The city's first letter was sent in November, Said explained. In reply, company management asked the administration to make a final calculation on the total sum of the tax arrears.

"We have sent them what they needed to see, but then Angkasa Pura claimed it could not pay the tax yet because management was preoccupied with preparing the new Haj Terminal.

Wahidin then sent the second warning, but it was also ignored, Said said.

The officials then decided to visit the company office at the airport.

"Once we arrived, we got even more confusing answers because all the staff members and managers who had arranged the daily tax matters there had been moved to another department in the company. New staff members replacing the old ones claimed to have no idea about the tax at all," he said.

No of PT Angkasa Pura II officials could be reached for comment on Sunday.