Putera number one taxpayer

Putera number one taxpayer

JAKARTA (JP): Putera Sampoerna, the chairman of the East Java- based Sampoerna Group, topped the list of the 200 biggest individual taxpayers in 1994, replacing his sister Sinta Dewi Sampoerna.

Putera, who was ranked sixth in 1993, surpassed Soedono Salim (Liem Sioe Liong) the chairman of the Salim Group. Liem came second.

The top three corporate taxpayers did not change from the previous year. PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) and PT Indosat retained first and second place, with Gudang Garam keeping its third place.

Director General of Taxation Fuad Bawazier announced yesterday that Henry Pribadi, an executive of PT Chandra Asri, soared to the third largest individual taxpayer from his 18th rank in 1993.

The rest of the top ten individual taxpayers for 1994 were, in descending order, Liem's son Anthony Salim, Bambang Trihatmomodjo, the chairman of the Bimantara Group, Prajogo Pangestu, the chairman of the Barito Group, Eka Tjipta Widjaja, the chairman of the Sinar Mas Group, Saiman Ernawan, Sugianto Kusumo, and Andree Halim of Gudang Garam, the country's largest cigarette taxpayer.

Saiman Erawan and Sugianto Kusumo are new to the top ten.

Sinta Dewi Sampoerna, who grabbed first place in 1993, dropped to 55th, while Hutomo (Tommy) Mandala Putra, the youngest son of President Soeharto, was down to 16th from a ninth place slot in the previous year.

Mohammad (Bob) Hasan, the king of Indonesian timber, and Usman Admadjaja, the chairman of Bank Danamon, also vanished from the top ten, sliding to 22nd and 15th respectively.

Another prominent businessman, Sudwikatmono, the president of PT Indocement, managed 18th place, while Mochtar Riyadi of the Lippo Group came 26th, Sigit Harjojudanto, Soeharto's eldest son, 29th, Marimutu Sinivasan, the chairman of the Texmaco Group, 38th, Djaja Ramli, the chairman of Bank Bali, 48th, Kaharudin Ongko, a commissioner of Bank Umum Nasional, 50th.

Soebronto Laras, the president of PT Indomobil, took 73rd place, Aburizal Bakrie, the chairman of the Bakrie Group, 74th, Probosutedjo, the chairman of the Garmak Motor Group, 81st, and Jakob Oetama, the chief editor of Kompas daily, 82nd.

Newcomers

Fuad said the 1994 top ten underwent a major change owing to the entry of the two newcomers, Saiman and Sugianto, and because several prominent businesspeople managed lower rankings.

He said the ranking was based on the 1994 tax returns, but refused to disclose anyone's reported annual income.

Income tax payments by individuals rose by 40 percent to Rp 7.1 trillion in 1994. The tax paid by the top 200 climbed 183 percent.

"The income tax payments of those in the top 20 accounted for 1.5 percent of the total income tax paid by individuals," Fuad said. "The payments by the top 200 taxpayers accounted for 3.3 percent."

Corporations

Telkom, the state-owned domestic telecommunications service now listed on the London, New York and Jakarta stock exchanges, stayed at the top of the 200 biggest corporate taxpayers list in 1994.

Indosat, the state-owned provider of international telephone services now listed on the New York and Jakarta stock exchanges, came second. Gudang Garam, the country's largest cigarette producer, came third. Fourth place was grabbed by PT H.M. Sampoerna, another major cigarette producer based in East Java.

The top 10 positions were dominated by state-owned companies, with Bank Negara Indonesia 1946 taking fifth, Bank Ekspor Impor Indonesia sixth, toll road operator PT Jasa Marga seventh, Bank Dagang Negara eighth, Bank Rakyat Indonesia ninth, and Perum Perhutani, a state-owned forestry firm, coming 10th.

Fuad said the top 20 corporate taxpayers contributed Rp 1.7 trillion to the total corporate income tax total of Rp 10.8 trillion in 1994.

He said the 200 top corporate taxpayers contributed Rp 4.45 trillion, or 41 percent, of the corporate income tax total.

"Their contribution was higher than the 37.6 percent in 1993," Fuad said.

The government managed to collect Rp 18.84 trillion in income taxes for the 1993/1994 fiscal year. (hen)

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