Rejecting The Increase In Entertainment Taxes, SPA Entrepreneurs: We Ask For 0 Percent

JAKARTA - SPA service entrepreneurs reject the imposition of entertainment taxes by 40 to 75 percent in Law Number 1 of 2022 concerning Financial Relations between the Central Government and the Regional Government (UU HKPD).

Chairman of the Indonesia Spa Wellness Association (IWSPA) Yulia Himawati said that her party asked the government to apply a 0 percent tax on the spa service industry.

"We suggest that in certain presides it can be at 0 percent and after developing rapidly, we will only be subject to taxes properly," he said in his official statement, Friday, January 19.

According to Yulia, implementing the standard wellness spa that has been determined by the government is not easy because it requires a lot of money, so if you add a high tax burden, it will certainly have an impact on the financial health of the business actors.

In addition, Yulia requested that wellness spa businesses that comply with government standards should receive special tax incentives to be able to develop to build the nation's economy.

Yulia also said that the spa industry also helped improve workers' skills with certification activities for therapists.

Thus, people who have been certified can find it easier to get a more decent income.

Therefore, Yulia deeply regrets the government's move to impose high taxes on the spa industry.

Moreover, the SPA service should not be categorized as the entertainment industry.

The reason is, SPA services are more appropriate to be grouped differently from entertainment or recreational business activities as regulated in the Tourism Law.

Moreover, in terms of definition the SPA is not part of entertainment activities but health care.

In addition, SPA is also part of wellness as a big umbrella.

That's why it's more appropriate to be referred to as SPA Wellness, which aims to include Health promotion and prevention.

Yulia added that this was strengthened by the scope of the SPA as one of the Standard Standards for the Quality of Environmental Health as regulated in the Regulation of the Minister of Health (Permenkes) Number 2 of 2023.

The regulation defines SPA as a therapy with certain characteristics whose quality can be obtained by processing or by nature.

Yulia asked the government to immediately review the provisions regarding the grouping of SPAs as an entertainment business.

If left unchecked, he is worried that it will create legal uncertainty in business activities in Indonesia.