Jakarta Customs Office Inspects 82 Yachts for Licensing and Customs Compliance
Jakarta — The Jakarta Regional Customs Office has inspected 82 private yachts and ships that are currently in local waters or docked at Batavia Marina in North Jakarta.
The inspections are aimed at optimising state revenue from the circulation of luxury goods, combating the underground economy, and upholding fiscal equity for citizens.
“We are carrying out this activity as a mandatory implementation of duties as directed by the Finance Minister and President Prabowo Subianto to optimise state revenue. We are also acting as a state apparatus to ensure the state is present for its citizens and to create fiscal equity,” said Hendri Darnadi, Head of the Jakarta Regional Customs Office, in a statement in Jakarta on Wednesday.
The operation represents an expansion following earlier raids by the Jakarta Customs Office on luxury jewellery shops and several imported luxury watch outlets.
“Lower-income citizens, micro and small enterprises, and even those buying motorcycles for work, such as online taxi drivers, still pay duties and taxes on their purchases. How can those buying high-value and luxury goods be exempted from their obligations?” Darnadi said.
For the yachts, the Jakarta Customs Office will verify whether owners have complied with formal licensing and customs obligations. Among the yachts, several are suspected of violating import and customs regulations through temporary import schemes or by using foreign flags.
“We are still investigating the findings further,” he added.
Darnadi stated that the Jakarta Customs Office remains committed to enforcing customs and excise regulations on all relevant stakeholders, and such operations will continue on an ongoing basis.
The Jakarta Customs Office will conduct inspections to verify that imported and exported goods comply with regulations. Beyond luxury goods, the office will also focus on combating the underground economy in all its forms.
“In Jakarta’s territorial waters, we will scrutinise all underground economy activities in whatever form they take. We will attempt to reduce and combat what is known as the underground economy. We hope this commitment can become an inspiration to other customs offices,” Darnadi said.
From the inspection of foreign cruise ships at Batavia Marina in Ancol, 82 yachts were found anchored, comprising 48 flying Indonesian flags and 34 flying foreign flags. According to information from several ship captains and crew, of the 15 foreign-flagged yachts, nine are owned by Indonesian nationals, with six owned by Indonesian companies.
In a separate statement, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa acknowledged the significant difficulty in tracking the underground economy, which is believed to have considerable potential. He cited a World Bank report, “Economic Policy: Estimating Value Added Tax (VAT) and Corporate Income Tax (CIT) Gaps in Indonesia,” which found that domestic tax collection is inefficient because the underground economy escapes taxation.
According to a 2018 study by Medina and Schneider, Indonesia’s underground economy was estimated to represent 21.8 per cent of gross domestic product in 2015.
Purbaya acknowledged that calculating the potential of the underground economy is extremely difficult since transactions and activities are not officially recorded. However, he emphasised that the Ministry of Finance is monitoring the matter.