City falls short of foreigner tax target

City falls short of foreigner tax target

JAKARTA (JP): The operation to collect overdue foreigners' tax
launched by the city administration has so far collected only Rp
65.5 million (US$29,772), far below the target of Rp 2 billion.

The city revenue office reported yesterday that from Sept. 25
until Oct. 6 the office had visited 123 companies and about 570
foreigners had paid their taxes.

"The amount of taxes collected is relatively small, but
we can update the official record on the number of expatriates in
the city," Saleh Ibrahim, spokesman for the office, said.

He said that the operation has recorded 995 expatriates
working in 123 companies.

Saleh refused to explain the reason operation only yielded a
small amount of money. He said that the office had not as yet
made a final record of the operation.

According to last year's record there were 49,000 expatriates
in Jakarta who had to pay foreigners' tax.

Office buildings housing companies employing foreigners are
the target of the current tax drive, which will end on Oct. 10.

The total value of overdue taxes for the 1992 to 1994 period
is approximately Rp 2 billion (US$909,090).

The city administration said that the large amount of overdue
taxes is caused mainly by expatriates who move to other areas
within or outside the city without informing the authorities.

Saleh said that Regional Regulation No. 6/1989, regarding
tax payments, stipulates that the head of a foreign family should
pay Rp 90,000 per year, Rp 60,000 for a spouse and Rp 30,000 for
each child the family has.

The operation is being conducted by a team consisting of
officers from the revenue office, the City Immigration Office,
the City Manpower Office, the Jakarta office of the Investment
Coordinating Board, the city police and the Jakarta military.
(yns)