The City Revenue Agency expects to take in an increase of Rp 45 billion (US$4.7 million) in vehicle tax revenues following the issuance of gubernatorial decree No. 73/2008 on vehicle taxes which takes effect Sept. 15.
Agency head Reynalda Madjid said Thursday he was optimistic that the city revenues from this tax would reach at least 110 percent of the target of Rp 2.56 trillion.
"The increase is going to come from taxes on new vehicles, because, according to data from the Association of Indonesian Automotive Industries, Jakarta sees 5 to 10 percent increase in new vehicles every year," Reynalda said.
As of September, the agency had recorded Rp 1.8 trillion or 71 percent of projected vehicle tax revenue.
In the same period, the agency, anticipating Rp 2.7 trillion in fees for vehicle title transfers, had taken in Rp 2.09 trillion or 77 percent of that projection, he said.
The decree stipulates the vehicle tax be assessed on the vehicles "selling value" determined by the government. The selling value is usually 21.5 percent lower than a vehicle's actual market value.
To calculate the vehicle tax, car owners multiply the selling value by 1 percent, for public vehicles, and by 1.5 percent, for private vehicles.
The issuance of the decree means the tax on vehicles manufactured in 2008 will increase while the tax on older vehicles will decrease.
"However, assessed values for several models will not decrease because they're still people's favorites, such as Honda Jazz, Toyota Avanza and Daihatsu Xenia," Reynalda said.
The attachment enclosed in the decree shows that all selling values of the cars mentioned remain the same. For example, Avanza 2007 1500S Automatic, valued at Rp 101 million in 2007, remains valued at Rp 101 million for 2008.
Iwan Setiawandi, head of the planning and development office at the revenue agency, said the selling value of older vehicles dropped on average by 7 percent in 2008 compared to the 2007 value. As a result, he said, owners of older vehicles would benefit from a lower tax payment.
"For example, the tax on the 2003 sedan Honda City GD8 1.5 I-DSI AT model was valued at Rp 1.3 million, while this year the value decreased to Rp 1.27 million," he said.
Another example is Chevrolet's Zafira CD 1.8 L GL MT issued in 2002, whose selling value decreased to Rp 115 million in 2008 from Rp 131 million in 2007. Another car experiencing a decrease is Volkswagen's Caravelle 2.5 TDi LWB, which dropped to Rp 555 million in 2008 from Rp 617 million in 2007.
The new decree derived from Home Ministry regulation No. 22/2008 on vehicle tax assessment.
Reynalda said that if a vehicle type was not mentioned in the decree, the governor could issue a decree stipulating its vehicle tax base.
