Vehicle taxes increase by up to 15%

JAKARTA (JP): Painstaking efforts to boost city revenue has led the city administration to an unpopular decision to increase vehicle taxes between 0.34 percent and 14.87 percent.

City Revenue Agency head Deden Supriadi said on Monday that the new tax rates took effect on April 25, following the issuance of gubernatorial decree No. 33/2001 on vehicle and change of vehicle ownership taxes.

The new decree stipulates that the taxes are calculated based on vehicles' selling prices, regardless of their engine capacity as was the case in the old decree. Previously vehicle taxes were set at 1.5 percent of their selling price, with the engine capacity being taken into account.

Deden said the selling price of vehicles would be decided by the governor but it would be subject to adjustment annually in accordance with the market prices.

Sedans remain on top of the list with a 14.87 percent increase.

Tax for sedans increased to 14.87 percent, jeeps 14.27 percent, minibuses and buses 5.14 percent, trucks 22.47 percent, dump trucks and tank trucks 6.85 percent, motorcycles 8.12 percent and heavy equipment up to 0.34 percent. Station wagons, minivans and three-wheeler vehicles are exempted from the increase.

The city administration has also given a tax reduction to several types of vehicles, including public transportation (60 percent), motorcycles with a selling price above Rp 25 million (40 percent) and motorcycles with a selling price up to Rp 25 million (20 percent).

Deden said the city administration had set a target of securing Rp 750 billion from vehicle taxes and another Rp 1.2 trillion from the vehicle change of ownership tax this year.

He said from January to May 3, the city had earned a total of Rp 706 billion or just 35 percent of its target. The revenue came from vehicle taxes which amounted to Rp 263 billion and the vehicle change of ownership taxes worth Rp 443 billion.

There are 1.95 million vehicles registered in the city, comprising 364,417 sedans, 113,411 jeeps, 353,263 buses, 89,173 trucks, 11,438 minivans, and 924,077 motorcycles.

Deden admitted that the public might be shocked by the increase, but he said the public had been informed earlier about the change in calculation of the vehicle tax.

"We have announced the increase at our office," he said. (jun)