Customs office allowed to impose sanctions
JAKARTA (JP): The government has issued new rulings, empowering the Directorate General of Customs and Excise to impose administrative sanctions on violators to uphold the customs and excise laws.
"The imposition of administrative sanctions is the consequence of the self-assessment principle in the customs and excise laws," the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.
Government Regulation No. 22/1996 covers customs sanctions and No. 24/1996 excise sanctions.
Under the new ruling on customs, the director general can impose a fine on importers who give false account of the type and quantity of imported goods in order to defraud the government of full import duties.
The fine imposed on violating importers range from 100 percent of the actual level of import duties to 500 percent, depending on the percentage of unpaid duties.
If the amount of the unpaid duty is 25 percent or less of the actual duty, the fine is 100 percent of the unpaid duty; for every subsequent 25 percent bracket, another 100 percent is added to the fine, with a fine of 400 percent for those defrauding the tax man of between 75 and 100 percent of the duty payable. The maximum fine of 500 percent is imposed on importers who do not pay any duty at all.
The director general of customs and excise can impose fines, ranging from Rp 5 million (US$2,140) to Rp 50 million, on freight forwarders failing to bring imported goods to the designated destination or unloading goods at places not mentioned in the documents.
Such fines are affected by the number of violations a freight forwarder has committed in the past six months.
If a freight forwarder has committed only one violation in the past six months, it will be fined at least Rp 5 million. If it has committed two violations, it will be fined Rp 10 million for its latest violation.
If the forwarder has committed three to four violations in the past six months, it will be fined five times the minimum fine, or Rp 25 million, for its latest violation. If it has committed five to six violations, it will be fined seven times the minimum fine or Rp 35 million. If it has committed more than six violations, it will be hit with the maximum fine of Rp 50 million for the last violation.
The ruling on customs administrative sanctions has been effective since April 2. However, the customs law's chapter 17 on the transition period stipulates that all customs matters not yet governed by new regulations under the new law will be subject to existing regulations until April 1 of next year.
Excise
Under the ruling on excise administrative sanctions, the director general of customs and excise can impose fines on those who commit violations related to goods subject to excise, such as falsifying excise tapes, storing goods subject to excise with false details on the documents, or transporting goods without the necessary documents.
The fines to be imposed range from double to ten times the excise value, depending on the number of violations committed in the preceding five years.
The director general can also impose fine of up to Rp 100 million -- depending on the number of violations committed in the past five years -- on those who produce goods subject to excise, run warehousing or retailing businesses catering for goods subject to excise or importing such goods without licenses,
The director general can also impose fines, ranging from Rp 500,000 to Rp 5 million -- depending on the number of violations committed in the past five years -- on those who transport goods subject to excise without documents or goods with unpaid excise.
The ruling on excise came into effect on April 2. Unlike the customs law, it has no article governing the transition period.
To implement the customs and excise laws, the government has so far issued five government regulations -- two on customs and three on excise, and 17 finance minister decrees -- five on customs and 12 on excises. (rid)