Govt on track to meet tax target

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Director General of Taxation Hadi Purnomo said on Friday his office had collected some Rp 78.51 trillion (US$9.46 billion) in tax revenue as of the end of May, or approximately 69 percent of the full-year target of Rp 113.8 trillion.

"When compared to the same period last year, this is a 115 percent jump," he said prior to a meeting with House of Representatives Commission IX for financial affairs.

The meeting was held to review the 2003 state budget.

Hadi said the collected tax revenue comprised Rp 40.6 trillion in non-oil and gas income tax, Rp 28.5 trillion in value added tax, Rp 3 trillion in land and building tax, Rp 5.8 trillion in oil and gas income tax and Rp 600 billion in other taxes.

The government is under pressure to collect more taxes to help finance the state budget, which is burdened by the huge cost of the late-1990s government bank bailout program.

Some experts, however, have said that the government would first have to improve the country's tax administration system to achieve the tax revenue target.

The government has opened a special office to generate more revenue from large tax payers, who have often not lived up to their tax obligations.

So far, tax arrears have reached some Rp 17 trillion.