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.