Writer Tere Liye Complains Tax Income Rate, Sri Mulyani Answers

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Following Indonesian novel writer Tere Liye’s complaints on the huge writer's tax rate, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati announced her readiness to improve the services in the area of income taxes.

Well-known writer Tere Liye took his frustration to Facebook and complained about the high tax rates that he considers has hindered writers in general. “If the problem is in its services then it will be fixed soon. Not only for writer Tere Liye, but also for other members of the public,” said Sri Mulyani on Wednesday, September 6.

Read: Govt Pushes for Higher Taxes Revenues in H-2

Although she reminded that if the problem has any links to the rule of law, then it could not be solved during a short period of time because it would need to revise the income tax law.

In a separate occasion, the director of Counseling, Services, and Public Relations at the Directorate General of Taxation Hestu Yoga Saksama assured that every type of income that citizens receive must be taxed according to the existing law.

Regarding the unfair tax treatment, Hestu explained that taxpayers who work as writers with a gross income less than Rp4.8 billion annually are given the choice to calculate their net income. It can be done through the norm of Net Income Calculation (NPPN) which is 50 percent of the royalty that the writer receives.

ANTARA