Employers asked to help promote foreigners' tax

JAKARTA (JP): Following its failure to reach the set target, the city revenue office is urging apartment owners and companies to notify their expatriates tenants and employees of their obligation to pay foreigners' tax annually.

The revenue office collected only Rp 116 million during its foreigners' tax drive launched from Sept. 25 to Oct. 10. The target set by the office was Rp 2 billion, which is the amount of overdue taxes since 1992.

Ibrahim Saleh, spokesman for the revenue office, admitted yesterday that the office found it difficult to collect the taxes because the office lacked accurate data on the number of foreigners working in companies in Jakarta.

"Many companies employing foreigners did not report when their employees moved to other offices, or when they started hiring foreign staff," he said.

"It would be better if companies and apartment owners notify their foreign employees and tenants that they are obliged to pay foreigners' tax," Ibrahim said.

Regional Regulation No. 6/1989 stipulates that the head of a foreign family living in Jakarta should pay Rp 90,000 per year, Rp 60,000 for a spouse and Rp 30,000 for each child the family has.

According to the decree, tax evasion is subject to a three- month sentence or Rp 50,000 fine.

He said the city administration targets Rp 3 billion in foreigners' tax annually, but the office collects only 80 percent of the target.

He said the revenue office had visited 123 companies throughout Jakarta and registered 992 foreign employees during the operation. But he said he had no idea how many firms there were in Jakarta employing foreigners.

The revenue office previously planned to visit foreigners in residential areas in an effort to reach the target.

Ibrahim said that other purposes of the operation, which involved immigration and manpower offices, is to obtain up-to- date data on the number of expatriates living in Jakarta.

According to last year's records, there were about 49,000 foreigners living and working in the city. (yns)