Badung regional administration plans to implement a full online tax system to manage its hotel and restaurant taxes starting in 2014. Regent Anak Agung Gde Agung told Bali Daily that his regency had already been gradually applying an online tax system and would fully enforce the system in 2014. Badung is the richest regency in Bali with revenue from hotel and restaurant taxes reaching Rp 849 billion (US$88 million), or 76 percent of Badung’s original revenues (PAD) of Rp 1.1 trillion, in 2011.
Meanwhile, Denpasar was second richest with Rp 131 billion, followed by Gianyar regency with Rp 126 billion in 2011. Gde Agung said that Badung had been developing its online tax system since early 2012. In the middle of this year, he said, Badung had already implemented online procurement of tax forms (SPTPD). He also said that tax revenues had already been recorded digitally. “To implement tax payments, we work together with BPD regional banks,” the regent said.
The online tax system, he explained, had be applied in stages. “We have been improving the online systems, starting with tax form procurement to the payment of taxes online,” Gde Agung noted. By the year 2014, the high-tech, online tax system is expected to be fully operational. “It is hoped that taxes from restaurants and hotels will be paid online and this computerized system will be connected to all tax payers — hotels and restaurants in Badung regency,” he maintained.
The regent was defensive when asked if the administration continued to refuse to apply online systems due to concerns over the lack of transparency in the taxation system. “There have been no leaks or unscrupulous taxation systems applied in Badung regency. I do not have anything to worry about when applying the online system. I think the online system will be very helpful and beneficial,” he added. On a separate occasion, Governor Made Mangku Pastika regretted that many regional administrations had not immediately implemented online tax systems to help prevent possible leaks by unscrupulous officials.
In 2010, the governor distributed a letter requiring regents and the mayor in the province to implement an online tax system. “I have received no response from them. Now I will resend the same letter and I hope they will give a positive response,” Pastika stated. Pastika lamented that people in the hospitality industry often thought that the profits and taxes from their businesses were their right. “That is not correct. Taxes are the government’s right, so they can deliver services to the public. Those taxes come from consumers who pay additional expenses when they stay at hotels and eat at restaurants.
Businessmen must return the taxes to the government,” the governor said. “The online system will simplify the payment procedure and it will be more transparent. In terms of technology, the system is easy to install with appropriate costs,” the governor stated. Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardana Sukawati, chairman of the Bali chapter of the Association of Indonesian Hotels and Restaurants (PHRI), said that businessmen were ready to pay their taxes online. “We do not have any problem with the online tax system. We support the government’s policy.
It is just a new habit that must be introduced and learned first,” Sukawati said. Sukawati, popularly called Cok Ace, said that the system must be applied gradually to allow for adjustment. “Maybe it can be tried in several regencies first before it is operated across all of Bali,” he suggested. In Gianyar regency, the online tax system would be quite complicated to implement because of the geographic condition and the nature of hotel businesses.
JP/ Ni Komang Erviani
source : bali daily
JP/ Ni Komang Erviani
source : bali daily
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