No tax incentives for listed firms: Tax chief

No tax incentives for listed firms: Tax chief

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

Director general of taxation Hadi Purnomo said on Monday the
government would not grant tax incentives for publicly listed
companies as they had already enjoyed various tax cuts in their
respective industries.

"The recent tax incentive facilities that we have issued for
several industries are more than sufficient. We fear there will
be a potential loss in tax revenue if we provide more
incentives," Hadi said.

He said that incentives could affect state revenue from taxes
because each year the tax revenue target was raised by at least
Rp 30 trillion (US$3.57 billion).

Earlier this year, the government granted a package of fiscal
incentives worth about Rp 7 trillion, including the elimination
and reduction of luxury taxes on 45 items, mainly electronics.

Some members of the Indonesian Association of Listed Companies
(AEI) have called on the government to provide tax incentives for
listed companies in a bid to get more firms to list their shares
on the stock market.

They said that one of the reasons why companies had been
reluctant to turn their private firms into a publicly-listed
entity was because of the lack of incentive.

The AEI also said the government should treat listed companies
and non-listed firms differently as the former had made an effort
to become more transparent by listing their shares on the stock
market. This effort should be appreciated by giving incentives.

Between Jan. 1 and Oct. 15 the directorate general of taxation
collected Rp 149 trillion in tax revenue, or 71 percent of the
target for the year.

The government has set the tax target for this year at Rp
236.9 trillion, including revenue from excise.