TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Starting in January next year the government will impose import duties on intangible goods purchased from overseas online stores, including software and ebook. The decision is made despite the fact that Indonesia is currently tied to a moratorium by the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The WTO moratorium states that developing countries are not allowed to impose duties on intangible goods traded electronically.

However, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution said the government doesn’t need to ask the WTO's permission or lobby them in order to implement the policy, because the moratorium will end on December 31, 2017.

Read: Indonesia - Australia Mull Exempting Import Duties

"Once it's January, [the duty] will be OK—it won't be necessary to lobby them," Darmin said during the sidelines of the 2018 Industry Outlook Seminar in Jakarta, Monday, December 11.

The Finance Ministry is still reviewing this plan. One of the considerations is the imposition of levies on intangible goods that have not been categorized by the World Customs Organization (WCO).

Amidst the rapid growth of e-commerce, imposing import duties on intangible goods creates a potential to generate state revenue.

This year, developed countries including Indonesia have requested to the WTO that by 2018, import duties on similar software products may be imposed.

The WTO moratorium was first proclaimed on May 20, 1998, in the Second Ministerial Conference in Geneva, Switzerland. A similar conference is scheduled for December 10-13 in Argentina.

ANTARA