JP/3/RADIOTAX/0

JP/3/RADIOTAX/0

Cheap radios may be exempted from paying taxes

JAKARTA (JP): The city administration is considering giving
more time to radio owners to apply for an extension on their
unpaid radio taxes and an exemption keeping cheap radios from
being taxed, Fauzie Alvi Yasin, the head of the City Revenue
Office, told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

The last day of last month had been set by the city
administration as the deadline for applying for the tax
extension.

Citizens who have had radios in their possession before 1991
are required to pay a Rp 1,800 fine, while those who pay the tax
later than March, 31, 1994 will also have to pay a Rp 1,800 fine.

The present regulation states that the present radio tax of Rp
3,000 applies to each radio owned from 1991 up to the present.

Thus, those who have owned a radio from before 1991 may have
to pay up to Rp 4,800. That would be Rp 3,000 for radio taxes due
this year, and a Rp 1,800 fine if they did not forward their
application for an extension before March 31.

"I have asked Governor Surjadi Soedirdja to extend the notice
until the end of June of this year and he has given his nod of
approval," Fauzie said.

Fauzie said he has also asked Governor Surjadi to exempt cheap
radios from the tax.

When asked what he meant by "cheap" radios, Fauzie said he
still could not give categories of cheap radios but he added that
whether a radio falls into the cheap category would not only be
determined by its price, but also by its technical
specifications.

For instance, radios which cost only Rp 5,000 to Rp 10,000 can
be categorized as cheap radios, Fauzie said.

"Only when the governor has agreed to issue a revision to the
present gubernatorial decree on radio taxes will I be able to
tell you the categories," Fauzie told the Post.

When asked about the amount of taxes he had collected from
radio owners, Fauzie said that of the targeted Rp 200 million,
his office had, as of yesterday, collected about Rp 159 million.
(06)