Painter angered by planned tax

Painter angered by planned tax

DENPASAR, Bali: The owner of the Museum of Classical Balinese
Paintings, Nyoman Gunarsa, has threatened to sell 517 paintings
from his 30-year-old collection and turn the museum into a
business if he has to pay tax.

"If taxes are imposed on my museum, I will sell my collection,
including the centuries-old classical Balinese paintings," he
said Thursday.

He was quoted by Antara as saying that museums should not have
to pay tax.

He said he recently got a letter from the local tax office
asking him to pay land and building tax on his museum or produce
a decree from the Minister of Education and Culture on the
establishment of his museum.

He later received a similar letter from the Directorate
General for Taxation's director of Land and Buildings.

Gunarsa's museum is Indonesia's only collector of classical
Balinese paintings.