Indonesian Transportation Society Urges Government To Optimize Tax Payment Collection

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Transportation Society (MTI) demands that the government be able to maximize tax payment collection of 40 million vehicles that have not paid taxes to improve the implementation of public transportation in Indonesia.

Chairman of the Indonesian Transportation Society (MTI) Tory Damantoro said losses due to traffic jams not only resulted in unproductive mobility, but also caused poor air pollution, which ultimately caused health problems, both physically and psychologically.

Tory said the number of economic losses per year due to traffic congestion in Jabodetabek was 71.4 trillion, besides the reduced use of public transportation, due to the declining reliability of public transportation services.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chairperson for Transportation Safety (MTI), Dr. Drs. Rivan A Purwantono said that until December 2022, there were 40 million vehicles that had not paid motor vehicle taxes (PKB). This amount is around 39 percent of the 103 million motorized vehicles registered at the Samsat Joint Office.

"If all vehicle owners obey the tax, the potential income received by regions throughout Indonesia can reach more than Rp. 180 trillion," he explained in his official statement, Tuesday, October 17.

Tory added, based on Government Regulation (PP) Number 35 of 2023 concerning General Provisions for Regional Taxes and Regional Retribution, there is a necessity to allocate at least 10 percent related to road construction and maintenance as well as to increase modes and public transportation facilities.

According to Tory, with the potential for PKB to reach Rp180 trillion per year and there is a must of at least 10 percent related to the development of public transportation, he assesses that the allocation of around Rp. 18 trillion is sufficient to become a design and become capital for the national public transportation integration agency.

"Or if it is used for the simplest BRT development, it can be used to build 1,800 km, and if it is used for the construction of LRT in the same class as the Jabodebek LRT, 27 km of the LRT service network will be built", he said.

Thus, PKB which has not been paid is an additional potential for regional income. Tory said, if the collection is optimized, the income will be sufficient, especially for the development of national designs and good governance for the implementation of public transportation.