TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Sari Kacaribu, head of public policy at online marketplace Tokopedia, asked the government to provide clarity over the Finance Minister`s Regulations` draft of taxing e-commerce businesses. The draft, Sari said, will make require the industry to utilize plenty and accurate sources to assess taxes.
"Because it would be self-assessment, right? Even for that part, we are still not clear whether it will be [calculated] per transaction or for the total. We have not received the details," she said in Jakarta Tuesday, Jan. 30.
Sari said the government and e-commerce providers to take into account the long-term impact of this rule's implementation.
Read: Tokopedia Wants to Join Go Jek as Tax Agent
"I'm sure they mean well, but we also need to think about the rule's short-term and long-term impacts. "
Sari said Tokopedia always reminds its sellers to pay their taxes. Thus, she asked for fair treatment—applying the same rules to online sellers who are doing business through social media without using official, registered applications such as Tokopedia.
"Since they are not applying these rules to people who sell through social media, we feel that it is unfair," she said.
Sari also said that the policy will create huge technical problems especially in terms of operational and investment costs. Sari is asking the government to be wise before putting the rule into effect.
"Let's not talk about technology—but about the human resources first. We would need plenty of that," she said.
Kartika Anggraeni
