Cynical About The PPN For Basic Needs, PKS Says The Government Is Losing Its Mind And Panic Is Mounting Debt

Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician, Mardani Ali Sera (Photo: Twitter @MardaniAliSera)

JAKARTA - The leak of the government's plan to implement a value added tax (VAT) on basic commodities from the agriculture, plantation, forestry, livestock and fishery sectors or the VAT for basic necessities has received cynical responses from various groups.

In fact, the discourse is seen as a form of government panic responding to the mounting state debt. The government is considered to have run out of ideas to find ways to increase state revenue.

"This is a panic move by the government to see the mounting debt and declining tax revenues," said member of the DPR PKS faction, Mardani Ali Sera, Friday, June 11.

The chairman of the PKS DPP suspects that one of the reasons for the increasing state debt is due to infrastructure development that does not have a grand design and supporting facilities.

"This is the impact of non-strategic investment in infrastructure that is not supported by the development of industrial zones and strengthening technological innovation," said Mardani.

The member of Commission II of the DPR also considered that the government should be more creative in closing the state deficit and opening up new sources of income. Not even adding to the burden of people's lives during the pandemic by taxing basic needs.

"The government should be able to work smarter during the pandemic, not by raising taxes, especially for basic needs. But it must strengthen industrialization by using renewable energy," said Mardani Ali Sera.

It is known that the government plans to impose a Value Added Tax (VAT) on basic goods needed by many people.

The policy will be contained in the expansion of the object of VAT which is regulated in the revision of Law Number 6 of 1983 concerning General Provisions and Tax Procedures (KUP).

Basic goods that are urgently needed by the community and are not subject to VAT were previously regulated in the Minister of Finance Regulation number 116/PMK.010/2017.

These goods include rice and grain, corn, sago, soybeans, consumption salt, meat, eggs, milk, fruits, vegetables, sweet potatoes, spices, and consumable sugar.