The benefits of tax collection have not been felt
Reporter: Mimi Silvia, Tedy Gumilar | Editor: Imanuel Alexander
Jakarta. In various studies, the large and rapidly growing middle class has often become the subject of how attractive Indonesia’s business and economic potential is. The research results of The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), for example, stated that in 2012 the number of middle class people in Indonesia was 74 million people or 30% of the total population. By 2020 it is estimated that it will reach 141 million people.
However, the large number of the middle class was not followed by an increase in the number of personal taxpayers. Based on data from the Directorate General (Ditjen) of Taxes, until April 2014, the number was only 25 million people.
Low public awareness is one of the causes of sluggish tax revenue. As a result, this year’s tax revenue target of Rp 1,027.4 trillion was not achieved. Last week the government cut the target to Rp 997.2 trillion.
Taxpayers who are employees may be members of society who are classified as obedient to paying taxes. The salary that goes to the account has already been deducted by income tax. Despite the fact, many people do not understand the types of taxes they pay and the amounts. “I don’t understand the tax calculations. Only the net salary I received, he said, had already been deducted from income tax, ”said Dwika Aldila, a public relations officer at a private university in Jakarta.
The problem is, the majority of the middle class in Indonesia work in the informal sector, such as micro, small and medium enterprises (UMKM). For MSMEs like Dwita Roismika, this may not be a problem. This graduate of accounting from Airlangga University, Surabaya, admits that he manages his own financial accounting including business tax payments.
It was only in 2008, or about three years since starting the business, that Dwita handed over the financial and tax affairs of his T-shirt business with his Cak Cuk flag to his employees. This is in line with the development of its business which starts to open a second Cak Cuk outlet on Jalan Mayjen Sungkono, Surabaya.
However, most MSME players are still focused on operational and sales matters. Boro-boro thinking about taxes, the bookkeeping of business transactions is not recorded properly. “Many MSMEs are not very aware of taxes, including how to calculate them,” said Hendy Setiono, owner of Baba Rafi.
Hendy, who pioneered Baba Rafi since 2003, has managed taxes since 2008 until now. “It has been six years I have tried to always be clean in tax matters. The positive impact is that the company’s financial books are tidier, the audit is better, ”admitted Hendy.
In addition, as an entrepreneur, according to Hendy, he has benefited a lot from the taxes he paid. This year he has twice participated in exhibitions organized by the Ministry of Trade abroad. Everything Hendy got without paying a dime. One of them was in early August when Baba Rafi was a participant in the Indonesian Diaspora National Convention in New Orleans, United States.
There are countless trainings for UMKM that Hendy attended and organized by government agencies. Indeed, such facilities have not been enjoyed equally, especially by MSMEs outside Java. He suspects that the problem lies more in access to information and links to minimal information. “One of the requirements for entrepreneurship is to build a network. So, it is the responsibility of MSME actors to be more active in seeking information, “said the Chair of the Standing Committee for Entrepreneurship Development at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin).
Less felt
However, it must be admitted that not all taxpayers feel as lucky as Hendy. Even though he regularly pays taxes, Hedi Yunus, singer and member of the Kahitna music group, feels a little overwhelmed by this obligation. The problem is not in the nominal tax that must be paid, but about the benefits he feels are less than optimal.
As musicians, Hedi and his friends in Kahitna had to pay taxes if they sold their art. However, government protection for their profession is still minimal. “Musicians, right, there is an album tax and a compact disc (CD) sales tax. However, pirated CDs are still very popular, ”he complained.
A common complaint among taxpayers is about the availability and quality of public facilities such as roads. Hedi had a bad experience about this. His car was damaged because it fell into a hole on Jalan Gatot Subroto, Jakarta. It happened during the flood season earlier this year. “If the asphalt base material used is correct, maybe the roads will not be hollow,” he said.
The same thing happened to Asep Abdurahman. One night in April 2014, an employee of this national automotive company rode his pregnant wife on a motorbike in the Cinere area, Depok. It was raining hard at that time so that the view was limited. Moreover, street lighting was not available. “I didn’t know that there was a big hole, the motorcycle tire went in there. Luckily my wife is fine, ”he said irritably.
Asep felt he deserved to complain. He paid taxes well. In addition to income tax which is routinely deducted every month, he also claims to always pay other taxes. The amount is also not exactly small. For the two vehicles he owns, a year Asep pays a total of around Rp. 2.1 million in taxes. Meanwhile, the land and building tax (PBB) is around IDR 200,000 per year.
So, it is okay for the government to collect taxes and chase them down to a mouse hole. However, the tax benefits must be felt and spread to all levels of society.
*** Source: WEEK 3 – XIX CONTANT, 2014 Main Report
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