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)