Sri Mulyani's Deadly Seduction To The House Of Representatives To Smooth The Investment Of Electric Cars In Indonesia

Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati. (Photo: Ministry of Finance)

JAKARTA - Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani conveyed the government's intention to make changes (amendments) to the changes in the Sales Tax on Cheap Goods (PPnBM) as stipulated in Government Regulation (PP) Number 73 of 2019 concerning Taxable Goods Classified as Luxury in the Form of Motorized Vehicles. This was conveyed by Sri Mulyani when holding a Consultation Meeting with Commission XI of the DPR-RI today Monday, March 15 at the Senayan Parliament Complex, Jakarta. To note, PP 73/2019 was inaugurated by the government in 2019. However, the regulation will only be promulgated in October 2021 at the request of the DPR. This means that before the regulation was released, the government through the Minister of Finance (Menkeu) felt the need to carry out a number of reforms in accordance with current developments. Meanwhile, several articles that are subject to amendments in this PP are Article 36 which contains regulations on the imposition of tax on vehicles with the type of full Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) and Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles (PHEV) .BEV itself is a type of vehicle whose main supply comes from electricity, such as the famous Tesla trademark. While PHEV is an electric car with a plug-in battery system but most of the fuel and power sources are still hybrid and not fully electric. Furthermore, in PP 73/2019 article 36 currently existing, the imposition of PPnBM BEV is 0 percent and PHEV is 0 percent. From this regulation, the government then received input from BEV vehicle investors who stated that there was no difference with hybrid-type automotive manufacturers. In fact, they considered that the technology carried was much higher and that the vehicles in the future would indeed point to a full battery electric vehicle system and not a hybrid.

"They (BEV investors) say, then why stick with a hybrid, even though we are aiming for a full battery. So those investors expect disparities or differences, between the BEV and the plug-in hybrid, "Sri Mulyani told DPR Commission XI, Monday March 15th. For this reason, the Minister of Finance then accommodates the aspirations of the electric car investors. You do this by changing PP 73/2019 article 36 for BEV to remain 0 percent, but increasing PPnBM type PHEV to 5 percent. Then, for full hybrid vehicles in article 26 from 2 percent to 6 percent, article 27 from 2 percent to 6 percent, and article 27 from 5 percent to 7 percent. "So the point is to distinguish between a full battery with a plug-in hybrid and a full hybrid," said Sri Mulyani.