Tangerang tax office exceeds target

TANGERANG (JP): The Tangerang Revenue Office collected Rp 28.3 billion (US$3.3 million) in taxes and levies in the 1998/1999 fiscal year, exceeding it target by more than Rp 300 million, an official said on Friday.

"We have thanked those who already paid their taxes, allowing us to reach and exceed our target," the head of the revenue office, Agus Burhanudin, said here.

Agus also praised his staff and Tangerang Mayor M. Thamrin, himself a former head of the Tangerang tax office, for their hard work in exceeding the collection target.

Some of the big companies in the regency which had fulfilled their tax obligations, he said, included a number of state-owned firms. These included Perum Angkasa Pura II, the operator of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, toll road operator Jasa Marga and Garuda Maintenance Facility, a subsidiary of national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia.

Private firms which paid their taxes already include Argo Pantes, Jembo Kabel, KGD, Jabatex and Sheraton Bandara Hotel, Agus said.

However, he said his office still was owed some Rp 678 million in taxes by residents in the regency. Agus vowed to take stern action against those who failed to pay their taxes.

According to Agus, the taxpayers might have delayed paying their taxes because of the prolonged economic crisis which had caused a number of companies in the regency to close down.

"We will take stern actions against recalcitrant taxpayers, such as seizing their property. Still, we hope they will pay their taxes before we have to take such actions."

Agus hoped his office could reach the tax and levies target for the 1999/2000 fiscal year with the additional revenue from a tax on well water.

However, he did not reveal the expected amount of revenue from the tax.

He said the well water tax still was collected by West Java's tax office, but he expected the tax would be collected by his office in the new fiscal year, which began on Thursday. (41/jun)