Car taxes

Car taxes

From Bisnis Indonesia

According to reports, the Jakarta City legislative council has already given its approval to a draft regulation regarding a progressive system of taxes on motorized vehicles in the Jakarta area. The draft has reportedly been submitted to the Minister of Home Affairs for endorsement.

So that the new regulation will be implemented fairly, I would like to make the following suggestions:

1. Since checks on car ownership will be made on families on the basis of family cards (kartu keluarga), the validity of new progressive tax regulation should not be made retroactive. In other words the regulation should affect only cars acquired after the regulation has gone into effect.

2. The stipulations concerning ownership of more than one car should be limited to cars whose year of manufacture does not exceed five years.

These changes are because of the principle that no law should be retroactive in validity, which could harm the public. Also, many families possess more than five cars -- old cars that are more than five years old and are quite inexpensive.

SUHARSONO HADIKUSUMO

Jakarta