Restaurants seized over tax evasion

Restaurants seized over tax evasion

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The city administration seized on Tuesday two restaurants of the
Sederhana restaurant chain, that serve West Sumatran dishes, for
the management's failure to pay tax arrears amounting to Rp 359.3
million (US$42,270).

"Earlier, seven of Sederhana's restaurants had failed to
settle Rp 646 million in unpaid taxes," said the Jakarta Revenue
Agency head of confiscation and auction division Jinur
Lumbangaol.

"Five of the restaurants managed to pay the taxes and their
fines before the deadline but the other two have not," he added,
referring to the restaurants located on Jl. Bendungan Hilir in
Central Jakarta and Jl. Gandaria Tengah III in South Jakarta.

According to Lumbangaol, the restaurant chain's unpaid taxes
comprised the two restaurants' taxes from 1999 to 2003 amounting
to Rp 160 million and a fine of Rp 199.3 million.

He said the restaurants were seized as the management had not
shown goodwill in settling its arrears.

Bylaw No. 4/2002 on city taxes stipulates that evaders have 16
days to pay their arrears, after which the city revenue agency
can issue a letter of seizure.

Lumbangaol claimed that his agency had sent two warning
letters to the managements but they did not respond.

"We have given them a grace period of 14 days to settle their
obligations. If they do not, we will auction off the two
restaurants," he said.

Late last year, the agency planned to seize properties
belonging to five tax evaders comprising three hotels and two
restaurants.

But it later changed its stance, claiming that the evaders had
started to pay their arrears, amounting to Rp 3.27 billion.