TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati confirmed the standard procedure for calculating tax on book authors in all offices of the tax region will be equated. The government will allow a 50-percent cut in the author's annual earnings, resulting in a smaller net income.
Sri Mulyani said the adjustment is part of the tax reform. The Ministry takes into the norms of authors' income tax reduction as part of the book-making process that requires research, data survey and promotion, which are costs that take up to 50 percent of all authors' income, royalty or other earnings.
Read: Writer Tere Liye Complains Tax Income Rate Sri Mulyani Answers
The net income will then be deducted by the annual non-taxable income (PTKP) in order to obtain a taxable income. The taxable income is subject to a 15-percent royalty tax rate.
The writer's tax polemic surfaced out after novelist Tere Liye ended his contract with publishers Gramedia and Republika. He protested the super-net taxes imposed on authors, regardless of survey and research costs.
According to Tere, an author's royalties should be final and no longer taxed after being automatically deducted by the publisher.
Tere also requested a reduction in writers' income tax rate, preferably the same rate as micro, small and medium enterprises.
Writer Dewi Lestari also complained about the fact that writers cannot enjoy 100 percent of their book royalties that are taxed by 15 percent.
Another novelist, Sky Kresna Hariadi, said that to produce quality books, an author must conduct a series of researches, which are quite costly. If the taxes are too high, he said, the writer will not have enough research funds, "and eventually chooses to stop writing like Tere Liye," he said.
Meanwhile, writer Sapardi Djoko Damono said he has no problem with the tax burden that writers must bear, arguing that the tax would be for their own benefits. "What bothers me is if the taxes we pay become corruption objects," he said.
ALFAN HILMI | HENDARTYO HANGGI | AHMAD RAFIQ
