Thomas E Harefa, Jakarta – Indonesia is still far from being halfway through its tax revenue target as the populous country has only collected Rp 760.38 trillion (about $46.3 billion) so far this year as of May.

"We have reached 38.23 percent of [our tax revenue] target for this year," Finance Minister Sri Mulyani told a virtual press briefing on Thursday.

According to Sri Mulyani, about Rp 443.72 trillion of what the government had collected came from non-oil-and-gas income tax, representing 41.73 percent of the country's target. However, the non-oil and gas income tax had gone down by 5.41 percent. The minister attributed the decline to the weakening commodity prices.

Sri Mulyani added: "[The mining companies] are still booking profit, but their revenue is on a decline. This affects their tax payments."

Value-added tax (VAT) and luxury goods tax reached Rp 282.34 trillion, about 34.8 percent of the target. Economic activities have led to a 5.72-percent increase in their collection.

The government has reached 38.38 percent of oil and gas income tax after it had collected about Rp 29.31 trillion so far this year. However, income tax from the oil and gas sector contracted 20.64 percent. Sri Mulyani blamed the lower income tax on the declining oil and gas lifting.

Land and building tax as well as other taxes reached Rp 5 trillion – about 13.26 percent of the target set for this year and down by 15.03 percent, according to Sri Mulyani.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/business/indonesia-yet-to-pass-halfway-mark-for-tax-revenue-targe