La Nyalla: VAT On Basic Necessities And Education Services Is Against A Sense Of Justice

JAKARTA - Chairman of the DPD La Nyalla Mahmud Mattalitti assessed that the draft revision of Law Number 6 of 1983 concerning General Provisions and Tax Procedures (KUP) which regulates taxes on education services and basic necessities is contrary to a sense of justice.

The reason is on the other hand, the government also provides property tax incentives for buying ready stock houses and a number of other tax incentives. Including the discourse of tax amnesty or tax amnesty.

"If taxes for schools, health services and basic necessities are imposed at a time when the government provides many facilities for the upper class, it will be against the sense of justice," said La Nyalla, Friday, June 11.

According to him, the government must pay attention to the views of economists who state that the discourse will widen the gap between the rich and the poor.

Moreover, said La Nyalla, the KUP Law is included in the DPR's priority 2021 National Legislation Program (Prolegnas).

Therefore, he reminded that the plan to give taxes to a number of sectors that intersect with the interests of the small community must be reviewed.

"The rules for providing taxes for the education and basic food sectors should be reviewed. I think this policy is not appropriate because it will burden the small community," said the senator from East Java.

La Nyalla asked the House of Representatives and the government not to add to the burden on society by planning to collect taxes on vital sectors. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic is still having a huge impact on the lower classes of society.

Especially for the education service tax, La Nyalla is worried that it will have a domino effect on school fees. In fact, he said, based on Minister of Finance Regulation 011 of 2014, the criteria for educational services that are not subject to value added tax are PAUD, SD, SMP, SMA/SMK to tutoring (Bimbel).

"This is not a good thing to do. If it is implemented, it feels like it will ensnare the people. Even though the children who attend private schools, not all of them are from the rich. There are private schools whose students are from small community groups, who cannot enter public schools. "explained La Nyalla

Meanwhile, according to La Nyalla, the policy of imposing basic food taxes will hamper the national economic recovery program (PEN). Because if people's power decreases, the impact will also be felt on economic growth.

"In my opinion, taking taxes from the education, food and health services sector is not the right way to increase state revenue. The government must think of other alternatives and not make policies that can hurt the people," said La Nyalla.