LOWER CLASS PEOPLE DESERVE FREE TAX ON LAND, BUILDING

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Feb 4 (Antara) - The government is considering scrapping land and building taxes (PBB) it collects from owners every year, but some are of the view that it should not generalize all tax payers in imposing the policy.          PBB is one of the main sources of original income (PAD) for regional and city governments. The abolition of PBB collection will significantly reduce their PAD.          Therefore, the government should not generalize PBB payers. It could eliminate its PBB collection from people who are grouped in the lower classes, but it must remain to be imposed on affluent PBB payers.          "If the abolition of the PBB is imposed on the poor, we in the regions will all agree to it," Ahyar Abduh, the Mataram mayor of West Nusa Tanggara Province, said on Saturday.          He said his side supported the government's plan to scrap the PBB but the policy should not be imposed on rich people because they are able to pay it.          The Mataram mayor made the comment in response to the plan of the agrarian and spatial planning minister to scrap the land and building taxes on dwelling houses.          Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister Ferry Mursyidan Baldan said recently he was considering scrapping land and building tax, which burdens the public.  "This is my opinion. Later people will only pay land and building tax once when they seek land certificate," the minister said last week.            He added that the policy does not apply to houses that are being used for commercial purposes or as boarding places or houses of warships.          "It will be applicable only to residential properties (where the owners themselves stay)," he explained.          He said that God created land only once, but why the PBB tax should be paid every year that made people always think how to pay it every year.          "It is normal to collect PBB tax when the land or building documents are issued for the first time. But it should not be collected every year," he said.          "Is it reasonable for the tax of a house we are residing to be collected every year?, he questioned. We build it with our own money. We repair ourselves if there is damage or leakage but we still have to pay building tax. We feel this matter should be corrected," he said.          Therefore, he said, he is deliberating over the policy to elevate the burden faced by society.          Moreover, the minister and his officials support the program of providing one million homes to low-income communities, which is in accordance with the functions of the ministry.          Mayor Ahyar Abduh suggested that the central government should involve the regions and communicate with the regional governments to get inputs before deciding to adopt the policy.          "It should not happen that the central government generalizes the people in imposing the policy. Economically, the people are grouped in different levels of prosperity," Ahyar said.          He said that there are people who are grouped in the upper, middle and lower classes. This means that separations must be made in imposing the abolition of the PBB tax. The central government should not generalize it.          "There is no problem to scrap the PBB tax for the poor. But further considerations should be made to impose on the affluent," the mayor said.          He said that one of the main source of PAD for the regions is PBB. If the policy is implemented on all people, the regional and municipal governments will lose PAD.          "That is why the central government should listen to us first so that the decision to abolish PBB tax will run smoothly," he stated.          Once the policy is implemented, the income of the regions will decline, particularly taxes from land and buildings. "Basically, we in the regions are ready to implement the policy of the central government. So, we are waiting for the continuation of this discourse," he said.          Makassar Mayor of South Sulawesi, Mohammad Ramadhan Pamanto, also voiced the same opinion. He said that the new policy will reduce revenues and will disadvantage the state.          "I have not yet known the details and model of the plan. But I think, if the decision to scrap the PBB tax is imposed, it will reduce the regional governments' revenues and will disadvantage the state,"  Ramdhan said on Sunday.          The mayor is of the view that the plan to scrap the PBB tax needed further studies because it will have impact on the revenues of regional governments in Indonesia.          "I am convinced that there must be other ways which could easily be implemented," he said.          Ramadhan said he agreed with the policy if it is imposed on small people.          "I agree with it if the plan is implemented for economically weak people. That's right, I support it but their taxes should be substituted by those of the economically strong people. Capable people should pay taxes," he stressed.          In the meantime, the Agrarian and Spatial Planning Ministry/The National Land Affairs Agency has set a target to scrap the PBB tax for dwelling houses, houses of worships and social buildings in 2016.          "We will likely implement the policy in 2016 while carrying out studies in the first place," Minister Ferry Mursyidan Baldan said on Sunday.          Ferry said the PBB taxes will only be imposed on commercial buildings such as house-shops, department stores, office buildings and restaurants.          He said the payment of PBB taxes for non-commercial dwelling houses burdened their inhabitants every year.          The minister said the government will only collect PBB tax when the land is purchased for the first time or the house when it is to be resided for the first time.***3*** (T.A014/b003/B003) (T.A014/A/BESSR/Bustanuddin) 04-02-2015 23:41: