Property taxes collected door-to-door

Property taxes collected door-to-door

JAKARTA (JP): The Central Jakarta mayoralty has begun a door- to-door collection of property taxes, the mayor said yesterday.

Abdul Kahfi said yesterday that his office was relying on the method to the help the mayoralty reach its property tax revenue target of Rp 79 billion. The mayoralty, he said, has only collected Rp 52.14 billion (US$23.17 million).

"As of today we began collecting the taxes door to door. We hope that the remaining Rp 26.86 billion will be collected by the end of this month," Kahfi said.

He said the policy is in line with Ministerial Decree No. 1006/1985, which stipulates that the tax office has the authority to collect unpaid taxes straight from the tax payers if they fail to pay after receiving their tax bill.

In the door-to-door system, tax payers who don't want to pay are required to sign an agreement saying they will pay seven days after the collector's visit.

Warnings will be issued to those who fail to pay the taxes.

"The office will give three written warnings. If the tax payers still refuse to pay, the office will seize their belongings and auction them," he said.

Obligation

Kahfi said that the money raised from the selling of the belongings will be used to pay the tax. If the money raised exceeds the amount due the office will return the difference.

He called on Central Jakarta residents to heed their tax obligation.

Last week, the head of Gelora subdistrict in Central Jakarta reported that the subdistrict office has collected only Rp 2 billion in property tax, Rp 1billion below the target.

The subdistrict head pointed out that Jakarta Hilton International still owes the government Rp 1.8 billion in 1995 property tax.

Governor Surjadi has said that the city administration should go after delinquent tax payers as the government needs the money for development.

Surjadi said that the city administration is making a concerted effort this year to reach the city's original tax revenue target of Rp 1.42 trillion, including property taxes. (yns)