Bylaw on advertising tax endorsed
Bylaw on advertising tax endorsed
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The City Council endorsed a new bylaw on outdoor advertising tax
on Thursday and called on the city administration to improve its
control over advertising tenders to curb corruption.
While all factions in the council gave the bylaw approval,
many also made recommendations.
"It is necessary for the administration to take sterner action
without discrimination against advertisements that violate
bylaws. Otherwise, visual pollution in Jakarta will become
worse," Councillor Arifuddin Halking of the United Development
Party (PPP) faction said.
He criticized the administration officials for their failure
to consistently monitor and impose sanctions on bylaw violators.
"They only take action after numerous complaints by the
public. Worse, their action is often too late," he said.
The faction called on the administration to end its closed-
tender process as it encouraged bribery and corruption.
The new bylaw revises some clauses of Bylaw No. 8/1998 on
advertising regulations and tax, setting out more details on how
to calculate the tax.
"We agree that including how to calculate advertisement tax in
the bylaw will make it more transparent and accountable to the
public. Taxpayers will understand their obligations and will be
able to cross-check the figure with tax officers," said
Councillor Stefanus Surachmat of the Indonesian Democratic Party
of Struggle (PDI-P).
Councillor Agus Darmawan of the National Mandate Party (PAN)
faction said that the administration must end the practice of
only appointing certain advertising agencies to put their
advertisements in spaces in high-profile areas.
"Open tender for spaces in strategic locations will encourage
agencies to compete for the areas in a fair way and, in the end,
it will increase city revenue," he said.
The new bylaw needs further elaboration in the form of
gubernatorial decrees, particularly on zoning advertising spaces.
Responding to the recommendations, Governor Sutiyoso promised
his administration would review all advertisement taxes,
especially those levied in lucrative areas, to decide whether
they were realistic.
"We will also evaluate if advertising placements are in
accordance with urban planning and urban aesthetics," he said.
Tax on outdoor advertising is one of the biggest revenue
earners for the city administration. Last year, it received Rp
100 billion (US$11.8 million) from the tax, an almost 10 percent
increase on 2002's Rp 91 billion.
Revenue from outdoor advertising tax is expected to increase
another 10 percent this year.