On exit tax

On exit tax

I refer to Mrs. R. Tuty's letter in The Jakarta Post on April
11, 2000, on the issue of exit tax. I am sure that many of us
share her frustration. We have to pay road tolls and parking
fees, and even illegal fees charged on the road when we make a
left or right turn.

A friend of mine at Soekarno-Hatta Airport expressed shock
when learning that I had pay all kinds of levies only to get out
of the airport to get to my home.

The most worrying fact is the exit tax (Rp 1 million) that has
to be paid when one leaves the country. Has anyone ever attempted
to figure out the extent of the abuse in connection to this exit
tax? Last time I left, I noticed no computer where the payment of
the exit tax was made. There was neither cash register nor
counting machine. You were given a handwritten receipt without a
copy with an obscure signature. The bundles of cash then went
into a wooden drawer and one was left to speculate as to what
would happen next with your hard-earned money.

The exit tax is supposed to be an advanced payment of a
person's yearly income tax but in reality it doesn't work that
way.

When the new government of Abdurrahman Wahid came into being
we of course hoped for the abolishment of this grossly obscure,
unjust exit tax be made one of the top priorities of the reform
agenda. However, after six months there is nothing in the air
that hints this is going to happen soon and the money spinning
"machinery" at the airport continues happily. Are Mrs. Tuty and I
only the ones who are complaining about this business?

MRS. CONNY GAFAR

Ciputat, West Java