Motor vehicle tax hike

Motor vehicle tax hike

From Media Indonesia

Early in February, I was surprised to find the motor vehicle tax on a 1,800cc Kijang car manufactured in 2002 had already increased by around 40 percent, from Rp 1,293,600 to Rp 1,815,000.

How could the Jakarta provincial administration increase this tax so substantially, as if it were competing with the fuel, electricity and telephone rate hikes?

According to informed sources, Jakarta has about 3,850,000 cars, so its motor vehicle tax revenue can be calculated. The question is whether the receipts will be used for the improvement of public facilities and infrastructure.

In reality, lots of alleyways remain narrow and means of public transport in bad repair, while the tax keeps rising every year. Jakarta's revenue should therefore be audited by a competent agency to ascertain the purposes of its spending.

In this way, the fund used can be accounted for through public announcements and the annual tax increase properly explained. It may be hard to realize but transparency in Jakarta's financial management should be our pursuit.

M. TANJUNG, Jakarta