Cellular phones smuggled

Cellular phones smuggled

JAKARTA (JP): Almost 40 percent of the estimated 200,000 cellular telephones currently being traded here have been smuggled into the country even though the phones are no longer subject to import duty.

"A large number of cellular phones have been smuggled into the country to evade the 2.5 percent income tax and 10 percent value added tax that must be paid by importers," the chairman of the Indonesian Association of Domestic Telecommunications Firms, Rahardjo Tjakranigrat, told Bisnis Indonesia.

Rahardjo said businesspeople wanting to make big profits on the sales of cellular phones were the main smugglers.

The distributors of the smuggled cellular phones cannot prove that the income tax and value added tax on the phones has been paid.

There are six major cellular phone brands sold on the domestic market. They are Motorola, Ericsson, Nokia, Siemens, Philip and Alcatel. Prices ranged from Rp 1.5 million (US$652) to Rp 2.5 million. (04)