Angkasa Pura owes ads tax

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post/Tangerang

The operator of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, PT Angkasa Pura II, has not paid its dues to the municipal administration for the tax it has collected from outdoor advertisements at the airport over the last four years, an official said on Tuesday.

"We estimate that PT Angkasa Pura II owes us Rp 2 billion (US$224,719) in taxes collected from the billboards since 2000," head of parks agency Said Hendro Wiyanto told The Jakarta Post.

The agency noted that there are 320 billboards at the airport, with Rp 325,000 and Rp 375,000 per square meter in taxes accrued in one year.

Mayor Wahidin Halim claimed he had asked the company in April to recalculate data on taxable items at the airport.

Said added that his agency had also urged the company in July to pay its tax arrears.

"I have met with Sri Evianti, head of the revenue division of the company. She had explained that the company was still processing data on billboard tax since the billboards were managed by several advertising companies," he said.

"We will send another letter, asking the company to settle the tax arrears immediately, otherwise we will remove all billboards from the airport."

When the Post tried to reach Sri Evianti for confirmation, a staff member said that she was undertaking a minor haj pilgrimage to Mecca.

The Tangerang municipal administration targeted Rp 4 billion in revenue from tax on outdoor advertisements this year.