The Tax Office has stressed that there will not be any additional taxes imposed on e-commerce businesses other than value-added tax (PPN) and income tax, but also said there will be a new tax mechanism in place for players in the industry.
The new tax mechanism for e-commerce, according to Tax Directorate General Spokesperson Hestu Yoga Saksama, is being formulated and will be different to the self-assessment system which currently applies.
“With the self-assessment, not many were willing to report. Including the PPN, they don’t want it charged. We are conceptualizing the terms of a tax charging mechanism for e-commerce. Hopefully it will be done before the end of the year,” Saksama said.
He added that the tax office aims to ensure that e-commerce players, both local and foreign ones, receive the same treatment with regards to payment of tax as its conventional counterparts.
Previously, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the government should be able to collect tax from online trade and transaction because bookkeeping process of electronic transactions are clear and easily tracked.
The country’s Fiscal Policy Agency has also said that the government should start collecting taxes from electronic transactions because of the significant growth in the volume of online trade, which is set to overtake the volume of conventional trade.
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