Mon, 23 Sep 1996

Alien tax

I strongly object, as an Indonesian citizen with an alien wife, to the Jakarta Administration's plan to increase the alien tax by 500 percent because the increase proposed is very steep and unrealistic. In my case, my wife is a housewife and has no income, so I have to bear the tax in full. My wife has been treated like the breadwinner of the family so she has had to pay the same amount of alien tax as an alien with an income (working in Indonesia).

I would like to suggest:

1. A review of the plan to increase the alien tax. At least there should be a difference between an alien with income and an alien who is the wife of an Indonesian citizen. The low average income in Indonesia should be a consideration.

2. If the plan is approved, the payment of tax should be done by a bank transfer. This will allow the taxpayer to avoid other levies, because at present Rp 5,000 must be paid for an alien tax form. I do not know whether this cost is legal or not.

Name and address

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