Govt mulls another tax for pets

JAKARTA: The government is considering imposing a tax on individuals keeping protected animals as their pets, a senior official said Thursday.

Director for biodiversity at the Forestry Ministry Adi Susmianto said the tax option was being discussed during a three- day seminar on Indonesian wildlife that began on Thursday.

"Imposing a tax on protected animal owners could serve as a deterrent for people intending to keep protected animals as pets," Adi said.

Up until 1990, individuals here were allowed to have protected, often rare, animals as pets, provided they secured a license from related government offices.

Adi said thousands of Indonesian individuals across the country still had rare, protected animals.

He said the government could impose the tax after it took an inventory of the protected pets. He did not give any specific target date. --JP